I’ve never been much of a sports guy. But I, like pretty much all Australians, rallied behind the Matildas during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. When I decided back in June to head to Europe for the summer, it seemed like a great chance to support the Tillies at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The potential costs were a worry at first. However, tickets to the group stage of the football were surprisingly affordable. Those booking four or more tickets could get them for €15 ($25) each. Otherwise, the cheapest seats were still only €24 ($40).

Accommodation was where most of my money went. Turns out staying in one of the most popular parts of France, in the peak of summer, during the Olympic Games costs quite a bit. Who knew?

The Matildas played two games in Marseille and one in Nice. One of these cities had their shit together much more than the other. Hint: it’s the one with France’s second largest arena.

Since the Tillies have sadly bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics, I thought I’d write about each of their three games. All had their ups and downs, both off and on the pitch. This will be more of an overall summary of my experience instead of match reports. There’s plenty of those out there!

Game 1: Germany v Australia

I flew into Marseille the night before the Matildas were playing their first match against Germany.

My accommodation was the very cheapest hostel I could find, which shockingly ended up being a bad call. It was the type of place that puts people off going to hostels. Hot and stuffy rooms, creaky and squeaky bunks, gross bathrooms, lax security, bad location…

Seemingly, I was the only one in the whole place who spoke English. That’s fine, since it’s France after all, but I had expected to run into some Aussies or other people going to the game.

The next day, I made my way solo to Marseille Stadium. It was impressive how many workers and volunteers were out and about helping. Kudos to Marseille and the Paris 2024 Olympics for that!

Not really knowing what kind of crowd to expect, I arrived a couple hours before the scheduled start time of 7pm. This ended up being completely unnecessary and also a bit of a hassle.

On the eastern side, where my €40 ($67) category B seat was, the sun beat down until well after 6pm. Many people hid out in shaded spots until the sun finally disappeared behind the stadium.

After slopping on a bunch of sunscreen, I braved the heat in my allocated seat for a while. There were a few attempts over the loudspeakers to get the crowd going with singalongs and such. It was obvious from pretty early on that this would not be a sellout crowd.

Seats and eats

I relented and headed to the food and drink stand to find out how big of a loan I’d need to take out to enjoy a crappy dinner. My burger cost me €10 ($17) and actually wasn’t completely awful.

Marseille is singled out in communications from the Paris 2024 Olympics as the one place where you’re not allowed to bring a water bottle with you. On such a hot day, this means you basically need to buy a drink. There’s no alcohol either, much to the disappointment of many Aussies I heard.

A bottle of Coke cost €5 ($8) and had to be poured into a €2 ($3) cup which you get a refund for returning. At least you can use the cup to get water from ‘refill stations’ or bathroom taps as they’re better known.

Heading back to my seat, which was in a fairly good spot right at the end of the row next to the stairs, I found that someone with a crutch had taken it. In one of those annoying questions you can’t really say no to, they asked if I could swap with them. I said yes.

(I don’t want to put this person on blast, but… If you look at the photos or watched the game, there are tens of thousands of other seats they could’ve taken. There were also hundreds of dedicated accessible seats and areas that I’m sure staff could’ve helped them get into.)

Kickoff at the Paris 2024 Olympics

My wonderful new seat was wedged between two loudmouthed, manspreading, middle-aged German men. Lucky me!

The German women’s team gave them three big reasons to celebrate in the next 90 minutes, with goals from Marina Hegering, Lea Schueller and Jule Brand. When compared to the Tillies, Die Nationalelf put in a top performance in this one-sided game.

The dedicated Aussie supporters in attendance continued to chant and cheer for the Matildas until the very death but it was for nought. Final score 3-0.

With the Tillies’ loss came the criticism, then the criticism of the criticism. It’s amazing how many people can have an opinion about things they have not experienced. That’s not just sport though.

I’m not going to pretend that I know what went wrong for the Matildas other than one team just playing significantly better than the other. It wasn’t all over yet anyway.

Game 2: Australia v Zambia

Germany was always going to be a tricky opponent for the Tillies. Their next group match against Zambia in Nice seemed like a genuine opportunity to score some much needed points.

I caught a cheap bus from Marseille to Nice the night before this game. To me, it immediately seemed like the city had put in less effort to accommodate the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Marseille had signs and people everywhere directing you how to get to games. Meanwhile, Nice was much more sparing. Admittedly, the city had fewer events than Marseille which also hosted sailing.

What looked like a lack of preparation by Nice was basically proven true on the way to the match. I got both emails and text messages from the Paris 2024 Olympics telling me to arrive 2.5 hours before the start time of 7pm. Public transport was highly encouraged.

In what seems like a massive oversight, the first tram to the stadium only began operating from the other end of the line at 4:55pm, just over two hours before kickoff. As far as I can tell, it was impossible to get to the stadium 2.5 hours early by public transport.

I and hundreds of others were left waiting in the stifling heat for this first tram. When it arrived, everyone jammed in, turning it into a sweaty sauna. The tram took ages and stopped randomly multiple times. It seemed like it was over its safe operating capacity.

It was sweet relief when the doors eventually opened at the stadium, despite the weather outside still being around 30 degrees. I have no idea how something like this happened, especially considering how few people were in attendance.

Photo ops and chip drops

To save a few euros, I booked a €24 ($40) category D ticket this time around. This put me eight rows behind the goal at the southern end. I brought my camera along thinking this would be a good location to take photos. Evidently, it was also a good spot to turn up in the background of photos.

After considering all of my available options, I resigned to again get a burger and Coke Zero. The burger here was practically a bargain at €8 ($13) so I got some €4 ($7) chips as well. I strategically carried it all back to my seat to find someone sitting in it. Again.

To avoid dealing with the problem myself, I walked back up the stairs to get help. As I tried to get my phone out to show my seat, my chips fell to the ground. I looked up and saw a kid laughing at me. Absolutely devastating.

The volunteer didn’t seem to care about my predicament. For a second I thought they were trying to get me new fries. Instead, they were just telling someone to clean up the mess I’d made.

They did accompany me back to the seat, which was now free as two of the four people in the group had left. As I tried to sit though, those remaining still tried to stop me. When the others returned, they confidently showed me their tickets. They were sitting in section H but were meant to be in I…

Tillies score at the Paris 2024 Olympics

One benefit of how empty the stadium was is that I had nobody next to me. This gave me space to move around to see the action and snap pics. There were plenty of photo opportunities in this game!

While the first game was an overwhelming defeat for the Matildas, this second one was a chaotic thriller. The team looked to be down and out at half-time. Goals from Alanna Kennedy and Hayley Raso failed to match Zambia captain Barbra Banda’s hat-trick plus a goal from Racheal Kundananji.

The Tillies would then go on to score four more goals in the second half. This included two from captain Steph Catley, one from Michelle Heyman and an own goal from Zambia’s Ngambo Musole. Meanwhile, the Copper Queens only managed one more from Racheal Kundananji. Final score 6-5.

For anyone who thinks nothing ever really happens in football, they should watch this game. It was probably the most exciting one I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing though… Either way, the Matildas earned themselves three points heading into their tough final group match.

Game 3: Australia v United States

The situation was kind of complicated leading into this last game, to me anyway. A win or draw would be enough to put the Tillies through to the knockout stage without a doubt. However, a loss would mean having to wait to see how other group matches that night played out.

I returned to Marseille on another cheap bus to a different hostel. Unlike before, I ran into multiple people going to the game here. We all agreed to meet up and make our way to the stadium together.

What started out as a handful of people from the hostel eventually morphed into a large vocal group of Aussies and others as the night continued. It’s obviously completely different attending a game as part of a group than solo. This ended up being the best experience despite how the game went.

I learnt my lesson and didn’t get any food or drink this time. All attention needed to be on the match. (I have since realised that the Matildas won when I bought chips and dropped them, and didn’t win when I didn’t buy chips or drop them. Are their losses my fault? I’ll let you be the judge.)

All over for the Tillies

From kickoff to the 43rd minute, it looked like the Tillies were holding on, even if only just. Then came the goal by Trinity Rodman from The Stars and Stripes. The VAR situation after this goal was even more confusing in the stadium since nothing was announced. In the end, the goal stood.

A second goal for the United States by Korbin Albert in the 77th minute looked like the end for the Matildas. Then along came Alanna Kennedy who scored in extra time. But the win or draw the team needed didn’t eventuate, leaving things up in the air as we exited the stadium. Final score 2-1.

Being a group of mostly Aussies, naturally people found literally the first place outside the stadium to get beers. A 7NEWS sports reporter was nearby to capture all the chaos.

Two hours later, after taking over much of a random bar, the bad news came through: Canada had won their game and the Matildas’ Paris 2024 Olympics dream was over.

Drinks and pizza were had and the night continued until the morning for some. A young kid called Kirby will go down as the biggest legend of the group, acting as both hypeman and spokesman.

Looking back, all of the games were interesting and I don’t regret attending any of them. But without a doubt, it was this last one that I will remember the most. I can’t wait to attend my next Tillies match whenever that may be. It probably won’t be quite the experience that the Paris 2024 Olympics was.