Nearly a year since commencing its journey, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ Unity Pitch has completed a highly successful tour of all nine Host Cities. Appropriately enough its final location was in the shadows of Stadium Australia, the venue where the world champions will be crowned in just under three months’ time. The Unity Pitch thrived wherever it has travelled on either side of the Tasman Sea. The Unity Pitch enjoyed numerous picturesque locations from beachside in Perth/Boorloo, Queen’s Wharf in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara to the Melbourne/Naarm sporting precinct where the FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour kicked-off its global journey. Designed in the tournament’s colours and reflecting the unique cultures of each nation, the ability of the Unity Pitch to engage with locals was evident wherever it travelled. Leaving aside an upcoming visit to non-Host City Napier on Aotearoa New Zealand’s east coast, the sheer volume of engagement on its visit to the nine Host Cities was impressive with nearly 100,000 people enjoying the Unity Pitch during its journey of almost 35,000 kilometres.

Like all Host City visits, the Unity Pitch offered a wide-range of attractions with inclusivity at the heart of its programme scheduling. This week’s timing coincided with the tenth edition of Football Australia’s Female Football Week. Aimed at raising the profile and increasing participation for women and girls, this year’s celebration has never been more poignant with the Legacy ’23 aim of securing 50:50 equity in participation post-2023 Women’s World Cup. Female club teams and school-aged players featured prominently during the five-day event in the Harbour City. Among other notable groups to test their skills on the pitch were the Matildas Active supporter group, LGBTIQ+ women's community football club Flying Bats, parafootball, Big Issue street soccer programme and much more.

“This is a pitch that brings people together through football,” said FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 COO Australia, Jane Fernandez. “Football, of course, really is the game that connects us all. “This [Unity Pitch] is all about the spirit of our people, the spirit of our places and of course the spirit of our beautiful game. Excitement for the tournament is building, and this is something you will not want to miss.” The Unity Pitch was originally unveiled on the shores of Sydney Harbour during the One-Year-To-Go milestone in July 2022, before its lengthy Host City tour. Now its conclusion today outside Stadium Australia - with just 58 days remaining until an epic opening day match between Australia and Republic of Ireland - could barely have been more apt.

Sydney / Gadigal – July 2022 Adelaide / Tarntanya – January 2023 Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau – January 2023 Hamilton / Kirikiriroa – February 2023 Melbourne / Naarm – February 2023 Dunedin / Ōtepoti – March 2023 Perth / Boorloo – March 2023 Brisbane / Meaanjin – April 2023 Wellington / Te Whanganui-a-Tara – April 2023