[1] The rivalry is a relatively recent one, born from several highly competitive matches between the two teams since Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

[3] Another dozen matches were played between Australia and Japan until a semi-final match at the 2001 Confederations Cup which ended in a 1–0 for Japan, but the match-up only emerged as a rivalry after 2006, when Australia joined the AFC, especially the FIFA World Cup qualification games.

The first match between the two sides after this was during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a group stage game where Australia was still technically competing as Oceania representatives.

With just six minutes left, Japan led by a single goal, only for Australia to score thrice in succession to secure their first-ever win in a World Cup finals match in what is regarded as one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history.

Since Australia joined Asian Football Confederation in 2006, both Matildas and Nadeshiko became two of the only three Asian nations to finish in the top four of the FIFA Women's World Cup (Japan crowned champions in 2011 and runners-up in 2015 while Australia finish fourth in the 2023 edition).