Saturday night’s thrilling penalty shootout between the Matildas and France is likely to have gained the largest TV audience since Cathy Freeman won gold at the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney. Based on Seven’s preliminary data, the tense penalty shootout between the two teams had a peak audience of 7.2 million. Back in 2000, it is estimated that a record 8.8 million viewers watched Cathy Freeman’s iconic 400-metre final at the Sydney Olympics. The 472,000 viewers on 7plus makes the Matildas v France game the biggest streaming event ever seen in Australia. So far, Seven’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 has reached 11.9 million broadcast viewers plus another 2.3 million on 7plus.