Emily van Egmond became Australia's highest-capped footballer on Tuesday evening, when the CommBank Matildas took on China PR in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ semi-final.
The midfielder has now played 170 times for the national team since making her debut in 2010 as a 16-year-old. The achievement speaks to her longevity, her technical prowess, and her elite ability to read the game to help the side unlock defences.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane of her storied international career.
Early Days
Emily van Egmond became Matilda #172 when she entered the field of play against Korea DPR on March 6, 2010. Fellow long-time Matilda Laura Brock debuted in the same game.
While she missed out on the final squad for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2010™, she played in her first major tournament the following year – the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ - where she became the second-youngest goalscorer in Women’s World Cup history against Equatorial Guinea.
Years later, she explained that narrowly missing out in 2010 became the catalyst for her subsequent work rate and desire to become a regular in the team.
“It just made me hungry to want to be in the team even more,” she said, “training harder and just wanting to be a Matilda.”
Football Intelligence
Van Egmond spent the 2010s playing her club football at various teams in the A-League Women (then W-League), as well as in Denmark, the United States and Germany. At the time, many players spent the Australian summer playing domestically, and then spent the offseason at a club overseas.
During that time, she participated in the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2015 and 2019, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup™ in 2014 and 2018, and Rio 2016™.
Her varied experiences helped her develop the football intelligence for which she is renowned.
“I do enjoy getting the ball and dictating the game,” the Novocastrian said.
“I also love good passing technique and knowledge, like, what to use in certain situations - whether it’s a cross, a driven ball or a simple pass.
“To some, a ball may look like a simple pass, but in fact, that pass has just taken two lines out of the game, which has given your teammates so much more time to be able to do their job.”
The Growth of the Game
In 2020, van Egmond was signed by West Ham in the WSL, following the league becoming fully professional in 2018-19. She followed the path of several of her teammates in trading in the rigours of playing for two clubs at once for full-time professionalism in Europe.
Since then, she has played at the Orlando Pride and the San Diego Wave in the NWSL, Birmingham City in the WSL2, and now, Leicester City in the WSL. She has reflected that the growth of women’s football over the last few years has been astonishing.
“Being part of the team from such a young age and seeing how it’s changed and grown has been amazing,” she said late last year.
“From the beginning - the generations of Matildas before us - to the support we saw at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, it has been incredible. It’s just been a massive honour.
“To still be part of the team after 15 years, and to be going into the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026™ - another major tournament on home soil - is just so exciting and I’m so grateful.”
Legacy
The 32-year-old did her best to avoid talking about herself in the lead-up to the semi-final, saying that the best way to celebrate would be to help the team win and reach the final of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026™.
Instead, Head Coach Joe Montemurro waxed lyrical about what an important player she has been for the team over her long career, describing her as “one of Australia’s most talented footballers.”
“Her football intelligence, her reading of the game, her technique - I think she's one of the best footballers that we've produced, and that's the reason why she's here,” he said at the pre-match press conference on Monday.
“But the biggest thing is her humility, her ability to understand that the group is more important than the individual.
“There are a few players that I've had the honour of coaching, that I can have a really good technical conversation with. We have good discussions about football and technique and things like that, and that's unique.”
There will no doubt be one particularly proud onlooker on Tuesday evening – her father, Gary, who has been a huge influence on her life. The current Western Sydney Wanderers Men’s coach was previously the assistant coach of the Matildas between 2015 and 2019. Montemurro believes she has the football IQ to one day follow in his footsteps.
“Even beyond football, what Emily can contribute to us and what the family has contributed - because her father's an amazing coach, too – is really special,” he said.
“[Breaking the record] is about Emily, but it's also about the contribution that the van Egmond family has made to football.”
But, in her own words, there is only one thing that van Egmond is looking for from the game against China PR.
“The most important thing… is to go out and get the job done,” she declared.