In short:
The ParaMatildas are looking to defend their IFCPF World Cup title in Atlanta after winning the 2024 tournament.
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ParaMatildas → look → tournament
The Pararoos are also searching for a breakthrough top-10 finish in the men's competition.
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Pararoos → search → competition
The ParaMatildas will begin their group stage against Ireland on Saturday morning, with the Pararoos getting underway against Brazil on Friday.
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Pararoos → begin → Friday
The ParaMatildas begin the 2026 IFCPF World Cup in uncharted territory for an Australian football team.
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ParaMatildas → begin → team
At the 2024 tournament in Spain, the side broke through as the nation's first-ever winner of a round ball World Cup.
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side → break → Cup
Now, the players are aiming to become the first Australian team to successfully defend a world title.
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players → aim → title
It has been a rapid ascent for the side, only officially launched in 2022, but coach Charlotte Ercil said her players were comfortable with added expectation.
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players → launch → expectation
"I think it adds a little bit of pressure, but it's exciting at the same time," Ercil told ABC Sport.
"But we always prepare like every game, including our first group game, is the World Cup final."
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game → think → game
The ParaMatildas, and their male counterparts, the Pararoos, play football designed for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and symptoms of stroke.
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ParaMatildas → play → stroke
The sport features smaller fields and goals as well as shorter halves than in the mainstream game and does not include the offside rule.
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sport → feature → rule
This month's tournament in the US city of Atlanta will be just the third instalment of the Women's World Cup and the first edition to be held outside Spain, while the Pararoos are hopeful of a best-ever finish in the concurrently running men's competition.
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Pararoos → hold → competition
In the brief international history of the women's game, Australia and the US have emerged as its two great powers, with the ParaMatildas going down to the stars and stripes in the final of the 2022 tournament before exacting revenge in the 2024 decider.
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ParaMatildas → emerge → decider
Getting one over the Americans in their own backyard looms as the ultimate test for the ParaMatildas, and Australia central defender Eloise Northam does not doubt the hosts' motivation to reclaim their crown.
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Northam → get → crown
"I feel like they definitely are plotting against us," Northam told ABC Sport.
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Northam → feel → Sport
"I think that's what we were doing back in like the second World Cup — we were ready to take on the US and take their championship away from them."
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we → think → them
The ParaMatildas are also wary of the sport's expanding talent pool.
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ParaMatildas → expand → pool
The growth of the global game means that teams and tactics are evolving rapidly, while players with newly acquired brain injuries are constantly welcomed into the fold.
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players → mean → fold
Australia will face Ireland, the Netherlands and newcomers Colombia during the group stage.
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Australia → face → stage
"Every year or every time we interact with or play against any country, there are always changes and improvements, which is good for the game; it means it's growing," coach Ercil said.
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Ercil → interact → game
Throw in lingering summer temperatures as well as the possibility of severe thunderstorms, and the ParaMatildas are taking nothing for granted in the American south.
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ParaMatildas → throw → south
The Pararoos, meanwhile, are bullish on progressing from a difficult group featuring Brazil, Spain and Chile.
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Pararoos → progress → Brazil
The Australian squad for the tournament comes with bucketloads of experience, with 11 of the 14 players selected having previous World Cup experience.
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11 → come → experience
One of those returning athletes is Taj Lynch, who believed his side was now well placed for a breakthrough top-10 finish.
"I feel confident in the players we're taking across; a lot of us have been there before," Lynch told ABC Sport.
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Lynch → return → Sport
"We've learned a lot, we've got a lot of things wrong, but we've grown, and we've improved.
"
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we → learn → things
We're not a team of boys playing against men anymore.
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We → play → men
I think we're finally starting to be a team of men who can take on the best teams in the world."
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who → think → world
Captaining the Pararoos in Atlanta is Australian football legend David Barber.
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Barber → captain → Atlanta
The veteran debuted for Australia in 1999, and will overtake Andorra's Ildefons Lima as the male player with the longest international football career when he steps out for the Pararoos' tournament opener against Brazil.
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he → debut → Brazil
The Aporia