Perhaps the news of the tournament broke before the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Thursday as Australian star Sam Kerr will miss the first two games of the tournament due to a calf injury. The tournament’s co-hosts navigated through their first match with a win, but the loss of Kerr is a big one for the Australian women’s national team.

Kerr is Australia’s all-time leading scorer and was expected to guide the Matildas to a deep run in the World Cup. She suffered the injury during a final training session earlier in the week. Australia is co-hosting this year’s tournament with neighbors New Zealand, marking the first time multiple countries host the Women’s World Cup.

Australia is one of the tournament favorites and winning their first game without Kerr could go a long way. The Matildas have a week before their second match, a date with Nigeria on July 27, but Kerr is not expected to be ready by then.

Australia’s third and likely most crucial group-stage match comes against Canada on July 31. Canada is the highest-ranked nation in the group and presents the biggest challenge for Australia in terms of winning the group.

Kerr is coming off another stellar season with Chelsea as she scored 29 goals in all competitions. She also had her best international year yet in 2022, scoring 12 goals for Australia. She scored twice at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup where Australia was knocked out of the Round of 16.

Australia still has a very good shot at making some noise at the Women’s World Cup but having a fully healthy Sam Kerr may not be in the cards for the Matildas this summer.