Prevailing wisdom says that you shouldn’t put much store in the promises of a politician, the longevity of an $8 toaster, or the results of friendly football matches. But after the Matildas’ three stunning performances en route to winning the Tournament of Nations it’s hard to be circumspect. It’s harder still to shake the feeling that we might one day look back on the tournament and find that it represented not just a coming of age for the Matildas but – though this might be the champagne talking – perhaps even women’s football in this country.

The Matildas have been one of the best performing national sporting teams – men’s or women’s – for some time. Since 2004, running on the smell of an oily rag and a sense of adventure, they’ve made it to three World Cup quarter-finals, two Olympic Games quarter-finals, and they’ve won an Asian Cup (2010). It seems crazy to suggest that winning a four-team friendly tournament in California – one that the vast majority of Australians didn’t even get to see as it wasn’t on free-to-air TV – can sit alongside those achievements. But in thrashing heavyweights Brazil and Japan and overcoming the world champion USA for the first time in their history the Matildas have swept us off our feet and enticed us with possibilities.

Matildas win Tournament of Nations with emphatic victory over Brazil Read more

And not just us. After Australia defeated the USA 1-0 Matildas’ coach Alen Stajcic said the hoodoo-breaking win would show the Matildas that they could beat any side in the world. And if you can beat any side in the world, so read the subtext, why couldn’t you then consider yourself a genuine chance to win a tournament that truly meant something?

After Australia followed up victory over the USA with a 4-2 win over Japan and then a scarcely-believable 6-1 thrashing of Brazil Stajcic cautioned about getting carried away. At the same time, however, he hardly grabbed us by the heels and pulled our heads out of the clouds when he emphasised the technical and tactical progress the team had made and the belief that had emerged; a belief, he said, that can’t be conjured out of thin air but one that must be worked towards and earned. “It gave the group a lot of confidence, and not just this week; forever,” Stajcic told the ABC, while outlining the team’s main objective: “Our goal, and we’ve set a high ambition, is to win the World Cup.”

Stajcic pointed out that many in the Matildas had claims to being the best in the world in their position – striker Sam Kerr, as deadly as cyanide, being the most obvious example of this. And given the team’s current form, stability and youth, Australia should approach the 2019 World Cup in France in as good a shape as they could possibly hope. Barring a calamitous loss of form in the lead-up, the Matildas will have every reason to believe they can win it – if they don’t believe it already.

It would be getting ahead of ourselves to speculate just what a World Cup win by the Matildas would do for football – never mind women’s football – in Australia. It might also be premature to wonder what effect hosting the Women’s World Cup could have, bearing in mind the recent news that Australia, who should be as wary of throwing money at FIFA as sticking an arm down a snake hole, is considering bidding to host the 2023 World Cup. Instead we should focus on ensuring that the national side maintains its momentum into 2019 and beyond. To that end, on the surface at least, things look good.

According to the Australian Sports Commission’s 2016 Ausplay participation data football is the most popular club-based sport in Australia. More to the point, according to a 2015 Roy Morgan poll, more girls play football than netball (and considerably more than Australian rules football) in the 6-13 age range. While netball won out over football according to the Ausplay survey (though this survey counted girls 15 and older as adults which could explain the discrepancy with the Roy Morgan poll), it’s clear there’s a huge groundswell of interest in football among girls and young women.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sam Kerr, one of Australia’s finest football talents, in action in the 6-1 win over Brazil at the Tournament of Nations. Photograph: Harry How/Getty Images

That’s not enough, however. For women’s football to retain its current strength, and for the national side to continue their climb up the rankings, the women’s game, and its players, need to be backed; by administrators, advertisers, the media and the public.

Much more will need to be done in coming years, for instance, to ensure the basic wage for professional female footballers in Australia stays in touch with the remuneration offered by the likes of cricket, netball and newcomers the AFLW. Just two years ago, during a bitter pay dispute that saw the Matildas’ 2015 tour of the USA cancelled, national player Michelle Heyman summed up the state of affairs like this: “The FFA wants us to be full-time athletes, but they pay us like we’re on the dole … I’m so grateful and thankful that I get to travel the world and experience all these things, but in five years’ time, I’m going to be a retired soccer player and have $20 to my name.”

That dispute was settled and the Matildas’ base rate (which doesn’t include match payments and bonuses) was raised from $21,000 to $34,000. But this amount will have to be consistently reassessed and increased. It’s not necessarily enough that football can offer Argentina to the AFLW’s Adelaide when it leaves you financially strapped. As Heyman indicated football will need to stay competitive in the funding arms race if it is to attract new players and prevent existing ones from jumping ship simply because a rival sport has deeper pockets. A landmark agreement last week, for instance, saw women’s state cricketers (who also play in the women’s Big Bash League) guaranteed a minimum wage of about $50,000 per year, while national players are guaranteed as much as $88,000 a year. It was speculated that former Matilda and star cricketer Ellyse Perry could now earn up to $300,000 a year.

Women’s football will need to combat those figures just as it needs to fight for more exposure in the news pages and on free-to-air television. It seems there has already been more written about AFLW after just one short season than has ever been written about the W-League – despite the W-League beating the AFLW to the punch by eight years. Moreover, as with last season, only one W-League game a week is set to be shown on free-to-air TV over the coming 2017-18 season. How can the game grow when potential fans have such limited exposure to the product?

How many people, one wonders, posting well wishes on social media attend Matildas games or W-League fixtures?

It must be gratifying for the Matildas to hear and read all the positive comments that have followed their Tournament of Nations win. There was a veritable love-in on social media. What will please the Matildas more, however, is to see increasing numbers of people in attendance at their games, as well as at W-League games (where they all ply their trade). While the 2016-17 A-League grand final between Perth and Melbourne City was the most viewed decider in the competition’s history, both in terms of attendance and TV ratings, W-League average attendances are exactly that; average. The Newcastle Jets sport the best home attendance average in the past season with just 2,600. Melbourne Victory averaged just 596 while the league champions, Melbourne City, just broke 1,000.

Certainly there’s a chicken and egg argument to be had about the relationship between media coverage and viewing and attendance figures, but for those who revel in the success of the Matildas more is needed than congratulatory posts on social media. How many people, one wonders, posting well wishes on social media attend Matildas games or W-League fixtures? Their vocal support is certainly a great start but their bums on a stadium seat will be even more helpful.

Next month the Matildas will be playing at home, with matches against Brazil scheduled for Penrith and Newcastle. With the memory of their belief-stirring win in the Tournament of Nations still fresh in their minds it will offer them a further chance to underline their credentials on their journey to France 2019. For the Australian public it will offer a golden opportunity to be the wind at their backs.