Matildas fans explode as Aussies wear controversial away kit as Sweden go on in yellow – here’s why home team wear their away kit
Confused Matildas fans have been asking why Sweden’s squad is wearing the traditional Australian canary yellow jersey for their World Cup clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
Several fans started the game cheering for the wrong team because Sweden looked like an Australian team with their predominantly yellow strip.
The Aussies, on the other hand, wear their teal jersey in the third place playoffs against Sweden in their final match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Many took to social media to admit they didn’t know which team to cheer for.
“Just realized we’re blue this time and it’s trippy,” one wrote.
Sweden has confused Aussie supporters by wearing their mostly yellow kit during their third place playoff match against Australia at the Women’s World Cup
Aussie captain Sam Kerr is pictured in the alternate teal uniform for the Matildas, a new addition for the World Cup
“It will take a while not to cheer for the yellow team tonight,” admitted another.
“These jerseys are so confusing. I feel like I would accidentally cheer for Sweden,” another supporter added.
“Wish Sweden wore their blue kit, I keep picking the wrong team,” another Matildas fan posted.
“NGL (don’t lie) not being gold and green is stupid AF,” was another’s blunt response.
One fan pointed out that the teal color was Australian because of the iconic “blue heaven” milkshake that was so popular down under.
The Blue Heaven milkshake is an Australian invention of unknown origin that combines vanilla and raspberry flavors with blue artificial coloring.
So why does Australia carry the ‘blue milkshake’?
Since Sweden is the highest ranked losing team in the third place playoffs, they get the honor of being the home team.
That means they get to wear their home strip, which is predominantly the same canary yellow used by the Matildas and other sports teams.
That means the Matildas had to wear their away kit, which was changed for the 2032 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.
The new teal design was chosen to appeal to a younger, wider audience with many new fans coming on board during the tournament.
The traditional white shorts have also been replaced with teal to help ease players’ menstrual anxiety.