Moments after the full-time whistle blew at the 2026 Asian Cup final, Hayley Raso sunk to the grass, sat with her hands behind her back, closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.
In her 14 years as a Matilda she’d competed in three World Cups, two Olympic Games and three Asian Cups and yet this game at Accor Stadium in March was as close as her team had got to winning any piece of silverware. Instead, after making it to the final of a second home tournament in three years, they fell short, losing 1-0 to Japan.
Back to take on Mexico with the Matildas on Saturday in Newcastle, her first match on home soil since that final defeat, Raso’s goals for the future have only been fortified. When asked what she wants to achieve before retiring, the 31-year-old says: “to win something.”
“I feel like I had the goal when I first came into the Matildas to go to a World Cup, to go to an Olympics, and I’ve ticked those things off, not only been to a World Cup, been to a few World Cups but also played in one in Australia,” Raso said.
“They are things people can only dream about, so I feel like I have done a lot in my career. But the only thing missing is probably that silverware.”
Raso has not been short of success at club level. She’s already won an FA Women’s League Cup with Manchester City in 2022, a NWSL Championship and shield with the Portland Thorns in the US league in 2016 and 2017, and four trophies during her tenure in the A-League.
But for Raso, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, her fourth club across three leagues since 2023, winning club trophies is incomparable to the prospect of winning one for Australia.
“Whenever I put on the national team jersey I feel like I lift to another level,” she said. “It’s just a place where I’m really proud, and I absolutely love playing for the national team … You feel like you’re playing for a lot more. You’re playing for your country, but you’re also playing for all those people who are out there supporting you.
“I enjoy Frankfurt, I enjoy the life there, the team, the football. It’s tough because I’m working really hard and maybe not getting the reward in that playing time which is always tough as a footballer. I’ve got another season there, so I’m looking forward to that and I’m definitely hoping to get more minutes and get that reward for the hard work I’m putting in.”
The next goal for the Matildas is the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Although it’s more than a year away, there are finite opportunities between now and then for the national side. With just a few international windows between busy club schedules, the squad has already fixed their focus on the tournament. Raso is desperate to win it.
“I’m that type of player and that type of person in general,” she said. “I’m somebody who wears their heart of their sleave and I would fight so, so hard for this team so that’s something that’s in me and that’s absolutely something I will be doing.”
