After two years out, Sam Kerr set for first match back in Australia

Sam Kerr is set to play her first match on Australian soil in more than two years against New Zealand in Gosford next month, Football Australia announced on Tuesday.

A two-game international series will be held at Polytec Stadium, with the first match scheduled for November 28.

Interim Football Australia chief executive Heather Garriock said Kerr should make an appearance in those matches, following her selection for two Matildas’ upcoming friendlies against Wales and England.

“We’re excited to see Sam back on the football field,” Garriock said. “The squad will be announced in the near future, and we look forward to Sam being named in that squad and possibly in the game at Gosford for her to play her first minutes on Australian soil since she got injured.”

Kerr arrived at the Matildas team camp in Wales yesterday ahead of their friendly against that nation on Saturday night (12am, AEST). Australia will then travel to Derby for another friendly against England.

It will be Australia’s first match against England since the 2023 World Cup semi-final in Sydney. That match included Kerr’s last goal for the Matildas before an ACL injury suffered on a pre-season training camp with Chelsea forced her onto the sidelines.

Kerr made her return to the pitch for Chelsea on September 15, scoring her 100th goal for the club. Her return to the national squad was announced on October 8, with coach Joe Montemurro saying it was unlikely the striker would play a full match in this window to help integrate her back into the team.

The addition of the two matches against New Zealand will also provide Montemurro with more time to assess the rest of his squad ahead of selection for the 2026 Asian Cup. Key questions remain as to who will captain Australia during the tournament, whether Mary Fowler will recover from her ACL injury in time, and who will be Australia’s first-choice goalkeeper between World Cup keeper Mackenzie Arnold and Teagan Micah, whom Montemurro selected for his first game as coach in June.

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On Tuesday, Garriock said the coach had “hit the ground running”.

“You can see his style, his philosophy, his possession-based football … They haven’t got long until the Asian Cup and our first game in March, so this preparation is critical, particularly playing against our number one rivals, which is New Zealand,” she said.

The two sides have met more than 50 times, but this will be their first meeting since 2022, when Australia won 2-1.

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