Six English-based Matildas will feature in the group stages of the Women's Champions League after Arsenal and Manchester City both booked their places with emphatic wins.
Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross came off the bench for late second-half cameos on Thursday as Arsenal hammered BK Häcken 4-0 in the second leg of their potentially awkward qualifying tie to progress 4-1 on aggregate after their shock 1-0 loss in Sweden.
They were on long enough to help complete the job with a lovely 'made in Australia' goal, as Cooney-Cross rampaged through the middle, arrowed a fine ball down the left to Foord, who passed neatly inside for Norwegian striker Frida Maanum, another substitute, to slot home number four.
Earlier, Lia Walti, Mariona Caldentey and the outstanding Beth Mead struck to ensure a comfortable passage to the group stages, which the Gunners surprisingly failed to make last season.
Steph Catley, the Matildas' captain at the Olympics, was again missing with injury but will soon be fit to join her compatriots for the group stages that will run from mid-October to mid-December.
City, with Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler both featuring for the full 90 minutes, finished their qualifying romp with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Paris FC, giving them an 8-0 aggregate win.
Fowler, who had scored her opening goal of the season in the first leg, didn't find the net this week as City's striking ace Khadija Shaw, predictably, got in on the act with a double after missing last week's tie in France because of a visa issue.
England international Chloe Kelly had given City the lead after just two minutes as City cruised to victory, with the only setback being Kennedy's 70th-minute booking for fouling Kessya Bussy.
It was the first time City qualified for the group stage since the 2020-21 season, when they lost to Barcelona in the quarterfinals.
City and Arsenal will be joined in the group stages by Chelsea who, with their place already sealed as Women's Super League champions, will hope to have Sam Kerr available at some point over the next couple of months as she continues to get sharp again following her ACL tear.
The draw for the pool phase takes place on Friday, with Chelsea in pot one and Arsenal and Manchester City in pot two.
The draw will pit the 16 qualifiers into four pools of four teams each, with the first round of fixtures taking place on October 9-10.
Big casualties of the night were Paris St Germain, who were knocked out by Juventus, the Italians winning 2-1 in the French capital to go with their 3-1 home victory in the first leg.
AAP/ABC
