Norway

Norway are a former powerhouse of women’s football and pose an interesting match first up for the Matildas.

Their UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign has been positive so far with big wins over Slovakia and Northern Ireland and a 1-0 loss to current European champions the Netherlands.

The Norwegians’ most recent matches were two friendly wins over Scotland (3-0) and Iceland (2-1) in January.

The Matildas have played Norway five times, winning once, drawing once and losing three times. The first of these games was at a tournament in 1988 and the most recent was at the 2011 World Cup - a 2-1 win in the group stages.

Norway has plenty of stars playing in the big European leagues. There’s Maren Mjelde, the captain and the most capped player in this squad playing in the centre of defence, plying her trade at Chelsea along with Maria Thorisdottir.

There’s Caroline Hansen and Kristine Minde at Wolfsburg in the Frauen-Bundesliga and Elise Thorsnes who has signed with Utah Royals for the new NWSL season after playing in the W-League with Canberra United.

Portugal

Portugal are the lowest ranked nation at the Algarve Cup but will be looking to string a strong tournament together ahead of their important UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers in April.

Portugal currently sit third in their qualifying group with a big win over Moldova and narrow losses to Belgium and Italy in the latter stages of last year.

The host nation recently played two friendlies against the Republic of Ireland, winning the first 1-0 via a penalty converted by Dolores Silva and losing the second 3-1, Diana Silva scoring the late consolation.

Australia and Portugal have played once before at the Algarve Cup in 1999, playing out a 0-0 draw; it was their only ever meeting.

The majority of the squad plays in Portugal at either SC Braga or Sporting Lisbon. Nadia Gomes, who was drafted to Orlando Pride, received a call up to the senior national team and will look to break into the starting line up ahead of her first season in the NWSL.

Claudia Neto is currently at Wolfsburg but has had limited playing time thanks to injury. With over 100 caps for the national team, she is touted as a key player in the Portuguese midfield.

China

Australian fans will be well acquainted with the Steel Roses after their two games against the Matildas in Victoria late last year.

Despite the positive results for the Matildas in those two games, China will be a different prospect in Portugal. They’ll have had months under manager Sigurður Ragnar Eyjólfsson as opposed to a couple of weeks as was the case the last time these sides met.

The Steel Roses’ form of late has been solid with four wins in their last six outings. After losses to Asian powerhouses Japan and North Korea, they recorded comfortable wins over South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Colombia.

Australia and China have a long history of playing each other, with the teams playing 40 matches against each other. China has won 19 of them but the Matildas have won the last three games between the sides, a run they will want to extend.

Wang Shanshan

China’s players to watch are Wang Shanshan and Wang Shuang. The pair scored half of their country’s goals at the Four Nations Tournament held in China in January this year.

Another area to keep an eye on is between the sticks. Zhao Lina recently announced her retirement, opening the door for the likes of Lu Feifei – who played significant minutes in Geelong against the Matildas – and Wang Fei – who is currently signed with Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga.