Australia has been gripped by Matildas fever in a collective sporting moment perhaps not seen in the country since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The Matildas toppled France in a dramatic quarterfinal in Brisbane on Saturday night, prevailing in a nerve-racking penalty shootout to reach the semifinals of the Fifa Women’s World Cup for the first time, as the game captured attention near and far, and even in mid-air.

Footage posted online shows a plane-full of passengers flying glued to their screens for those tense final moments, before erupting in celebration once Cortnee Vine slotted the match-winning spot kick.

The jubilant scenes didn’t even seem to startle the odd passenger out, who had instead found The Lord of the Rings a better option.

Australia will now face England in their semifinal, on Wednesday night at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

While the TV ratings for Saturday night’s gripping quarterfinal that became the longest ever shootout in Fifa World Cup history — men’s or women’s — weren’t yet out, the ratings had only been climbing game after game.

More than 3.5 million watched the Matildas’ round of 16 win over Denmark on Monday night on Channel 7 in Australia – 3.18m on TV and 385,000 on the 7plus streaming service in Australia.

Even just those numbers were enough to outrate every NRL Grand Final and State of Origin since 2016 as well as five of the past seven AFL Grand Finals. And even more football fans more would have been watching via Optus Sport, as well as all those at live sites.

It was the highest audience for any TV show so far in 2023, although it’s expected the quarterfinal against France and Wednesday night’s semifinal between the Matildas and England will eclipse it.