Matildas' epic comeback win at Olympics highlights concerning crowd situation at Paris Games

The Matildas' craziest match in recent memory was played in front of a largely empty stadium, exposing an ugly crowd truth at the Paris Olympic Games. The Aussies reignited their hopes of progressing past the group stage of the women's football competition with an astonishing 6-5, come-from-behind win against African powerhouse Zambia in Nice.

Tony Gustavsson's side came back from 5-2 down in the second half to complete a remarkable turnaround and stun the Zambians late on, with Michelle Heyman's 90th minute winner settling an 11-goal thriller. The chaotic victory was a crucial bounce back from the Aussies, who went down to Germany 3-0 in their opening match. And the Matildas' Olympics campaign looked on life support when Zambia shot to a three-goal lead in a match punctuated by poor defending from both sides.

Alanna Kennedy headed the Aussies level after Zambian striker Barbra Banda scored the first of her three goals inside the first minute. Matildas captain Steph Catley - who scored two goals in the epic comeback win - found Kennedy in acres of space inside the penalty area with Zambia's defending non-existent as the Aussie headed in the perfectly delivered free kick.

Zambia looked to have run away with the contest after Banda's three goals saw them jump out to a 4-2 lead at halftime, with Hayley Raso also pulling one goal back for the Matildas after slack marking on a set piece allowed her to score a header. Racheal Kundananji's second goal of the game made it 5-2 to Zambia early in the second half, before the Aussies responded with four goals to leave their opponents shattered.

Erratic Zambian keeper Ngambo Musole was involved in a farcical own goal and she also let a Catley free kick inexplicably slip through her fingers to gift the Aussies a way back into the contest. Catley then buried a spot kick to make it 5-5 after Caitlin Foord was fouled in the penalty box, before Heyman curled in a late winner after being introduced as Australia's super sub.

Epic Matildas comeback win played in front of tiny crowd

The stunning strike capped off an insane comeback for the Matildas but the sad reality was there were so few watching the drama from the stands in Nice. According to reports from News Corp, officials sold just 110 tickets to the match and various shots around the ground showed the multitude of empty seats.

The shocking crowd scenes are a far cry from what the Matildas have been used to in their homeland, where even friendly games selling out in Australia. The Matildas have been the hottest sporting ticket in Australia off the back of their home World Cup last year and historic charge to the semi-finals.

But the atmosphere couldn't have been further from what the Aussies have become accustomed to, with reporters on the ground in Nice revealing that there is very little evidence the city is hosting six Olympic football matches at the Paris Games. Even for the Matildas' first match against Germany, only about a couple of thousand spectators took the stands to cheer both sides on in Marseille.

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Ticket prices for the Olympic football games seem to vary from $40 to $120, depending on the venue and the city. The men's football match between hosts France and the USA in Marseille did attract close to 60,000 fans on the opening day of competition though. The Matildas can expect their third and final group game against the USA on Thursday morning (AEST) will be played in front of a larger crowd in Marseille than what they experienced against Zambia in Nice.

Gustavsson's Matildas know they will have to sharpen up their defence if they're any chance against the mighty Americans. The Matildas go into Thursday morning's contest hoping to avenge their defeat to the USA in the bronze medal game at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. The Matildas may need at least a draw against the USA to advance in Paris, with eight of the 12 teams going through - including two of the third-placed pool finishers alongside the top two in each group.

“We obviously wouldn’t want it to go exactly how it did, but I think the way the game ended says so much about the heart and spirit of this team,” Matildas captain Steph Catley said the Zambia game. “We didn’t drop our heads once. We knew we could get back into it. We knew we could score goals. Obviously we didn’t want to concede (five goals) … but at the end of the day, we needed a win, and we did.”