Australia may not have lifted the trophy Women's World Cup but there were still plenty of wins for the Matildas over the course of the tournament.

The team recorded their best ever result after winning 2 of their 3 games in the group stage. Arguably their best performance, however, was the 1-0 to Brazil where the outstanding skills of 16 year old Caitlin Foord kept Brazilian superstar and 5 time FIFA Women's Player of the Year, Marta, under control for the majority of the game.

Cairlin's performance did not go unnoticed and awarded Best Young Player of the tournament by FIFA. 

Another young Australian was also recognised by FIFA for her outstanding effort and that was Elise Kellond-Knight, named in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 All-star team.

Best of all, the Matildas moved up to 9th in the FIFA Women's World Rankings, the highest ranking for an Australian football team. Ever.

Below are the highlights from each of the games, but first, some comments from players and staff.

Assistant Coach, Spencer Prior: The journey is over for this World Cup, but we will come back stronger next time. Hold your heads high Matildas, I'm proud of you. 

Captain, Melissa Barbieri: Thanks for all your support and well wishes... it didn't end the way we wanted it to but I hope you are proud of us.

Matilda & SBS Commentator, Sarah Walsh: I think overall the Matildas exceeded external expectations and were extremely competitive throughout the tournament. In saying that, I think the girls were disappointed in missing out on the semis and possibly feel they could have performed much better in certain areas. I'm sure the girls feel strongly about working on these particular aspects of the game and proving exactly what the Matildas are capable of in this up and coming qualifiers.

Ex-Matilda & ESPN Commentator, Alicia Ferguson: Well done to @TheMatildas on their #WWC2011. Promising signs for the future of women's football in Australia & I'm so proud of you. 

Brazil 1 - Australia 0

Matildas loss equals a win
The Matildas retained a whopping 60 per cent of possession in the first half and kept Marta altogether fairly quiet. Lisa De Vanna gave the Brazilians grief, both up front and when she tracked back to help defend. Kyah Simon had a cracking, on-target shot that was at the last second plucked out of the air by the Brazilians' deft keeper. But the traffic was all Matildas, and the sense was that a goal was just around the corner. Read more.

Gallant Matildas go down fighting
For the most part, the Australian defence contained Brazil's celebrated striking duo of Marta and Cristiane, although each had a chance late in the first half and Rosana also went close twice before the break. Read more.

Video Highlights

Equatorial Guinea 2 - Australia 3

This game won't so much be remembered for football as for what has been dubbed the 'Hand of OMG' but a good perfomance from the Matildas despite a few mistakes that thankfully didn't prove costly in this game.

Matildas keep World Cup hopes alive with nervy 3-2 victory over Equatorial Guinea in Bochum
This article on Fox Sports contains a summary of the game plus a post match interview with Leena Khamis and Assistant Coach, Spencer Prior. 

Norway 1 - Australia 2

The Matildas had never beaten Norway and they didn't let that statistic stop them as Kyah Simon scored the two goals to put the team in to the quarter finals for the second time.

Matildas into FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finals with 2-1 victory against Norway
Read more plus a post match interview with Tom Sermanni over at Fox Sports. 

Sweden 3 - Australia 1

And this is where it all came to an end. I'd rather just watch this goal by Ellyse Perry over and over:

Oh, ok then, here are the full highlights.

Still want more?

Here's a fantastic in-depth interview with coach Tom Sermanni.

Plenty of the Matildas are supporters of Sport for Women Day, take a look their profiles where you'll find a Q & A an recent news about each player:

• Melissa Barbieri
• Ellyse Perry
• Sally Shipard
• Emily van Egmond
• Sarah Walsh 
• Lydia Williams

What Next?

The Matildas will shortly head in to camp to prepare for the Olympic Qualifiers to be held in China in September. The top two teams that emerge from a gruelling 11 day round robin tournament will be heading to London in 2012. We're currently champions of the Asian region but as you all know, Japan cam away with the 2011 World Cup and DPR Korea and China are not to be taken lightly either. It's going to be tough.

Still waiting on news from the FFA and SBS to see if the games are to be televised.