A groundbreaking deal to pay the Matildas and treat them equally as the same as the Socceroos is a first for the Australian side, which hopes to inspire others to follow suit.

A world-first, the agreement is to pay both teams equally along with sharing all commercial revenues 50/50. In the past, the men's team have been paid far more than the women's team in Australia, but this is an imbalance that side men and women have agreed to correct going forward. 

In a deal that has taken months, the Football Federation Australia and the players union have been working hard to ensure this is agreed and announced ahead of the Matildas friendlies against Chile - in the first of a double-header of the Olympic qualifying tournament in February next year.

The total prize pool for teams at the women's World Cup in France was around $US30m ($43m), compared with $US400m ($575m) set aside for the Men's World Cup in Russia last year.

Other teams are fighting their federations to seek greater parity, with the US women's national team filing a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation alleging "institutionalised gender discrimination" over pay and bonuses.

A positive step for the Australians and many women in football, they hope this will continue to inspire change globally for all women in football.