Matildas’ Sam Kerr shares a kiss with her soccer friend Kristie Mewis after Australia’s World Cup quarter-final win against France

Matildas star Sam Kerr has been caught celebrating Australia’s incredible win against France with her soccer friend, Kristie Mewis.

Kerr, 29, hugged Mewis, who plays for the US women’s national team, after the Matildas’ quarterfinal victory on Saturday at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

The football power couple kissed and hugged as millions of Australians celebrated a happy ending to the heart-pounding semi-final.

Mewis also supported her girlfriend of more than two years from the stands during Australia’s victory over Denmark on Monday.

The Matildas won the grueling match against France 7–6 on penalties in the longest shootout in tournament history.

Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold made three saves before Cortnee Vine converted the winning penalty to seal the quarter-final victory in front of 49,461 screaming fans.

The Matildas will play against England in the semi-finals in Sydney next Wednesday.

Kerr (centre) came on in the 55th minute after suffering a calf injury on the eve of the opening World Cup match against Ireland

Kerr struggles with a calf problem and skipped the first three games to recover from the injury he suffered on the eve of the opening game against Ireland.

The 28-year-old was not fit enough to start Saturday’s game, but fell in place of Van Egmond in the 55th minute.

Just a minute later she burst forward and worked the ball to Hayley Raso, whose long-range effort was brilliantly disallowed by Peyraud-Magnin.

However, neither team could find an opening from there and the game went into overtime.

Despite the difficult game, Kerr was all smiles when she later hugged Mewis.

The pair have been dating since 2020, having first been pictured playing for competing clubs in the US National Women’s Soccer League in 2019.

They spoke online for nearly four months during the 2020 Covid lockdown before spending two weeks in quarantine together where they quickly fell in love.

The beloved couple confirmed that they first met when they played for rival clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League in the US in 2020

The power couple were first photographed together during a friendly match in Newcastle

The pair continued their romance ahead of the 2021 Olympics, where they were photographed together after America’s semi-final defeat to Australia.

Their on-field embrace made headlines as Kerr’s breakup with her former longtime partner – another American club player Nikki Stanton – had not yet been made public.

Now, nearly two years after their high-profile love story, Kerr and Mewis have emerged as one of football’s power couples and have made a conscious decision to be “out and proud” in both the queer and straight communities.

Their global romance has also been widely documented on social media with both women amassing hundreds of thousands of followers.

Following Saturday’s historic win, Kerr laid down Matildas’ desire to “change football forever in this country” by excelling at the World Cup.

Arnold explained how much it means to the team to progress to the semi-finals of the World Cup, admitting she was “speechless” at the result.

Kerr hugged Mewis (above) after the Matildas’ incredible quarterfinal victory

Kerr (above) said the Matildas wanted to ‘change football in this country forever’ by excelling at the World Cup

“I’m still processing this. I think it could take a few days, but we have a fast turnaround, so I need to figure it out pretty quickly. Unreal. I am speechless at the moment,” she said.

“I could have won the girls’ game, but they gathered around me and kept me in it.

“Ultimately it’s my job to keep the ball out of the net and luckily I was able to do that.

“Honestly, we all do it for each other. They were behind me 100 percent.’