Australia's Mallrat and New Zealand's BENEE pen official Women's World Cup 2023 song 'Do It Again'

The official song for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ is set to drop on June 29th featuring two female artists from Down Under. Australia's Mallrat, who OPTUS SPORT sat down with, and New Zealand's BENEE wrote the song titled 'Do It Again'.

Everyone remembers the images of Cathy Freeman crossing the line at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to win gold in the 400m.

But almost as iconic an image was when, then a relatively unknown 13-year-old singer, Nikki Webster ascended from the sky at ANZ Stadium with a spotlight on her during the Games' opening ceremony.

The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ has been drawing comparisons to the iconic Australian sporting event since its announcement and with more than 1 million tickets sold already, it's looking like it too will go down in sporting history.

This time, however, it will be two very recognisable faces in the music industry front and centre at the opening ceremony at Auckland's Eden Park on July 20 before the first whistle - Mallrat (Grace Shaw) and BENEE (Stella Bennett).

Brisbane singer and producer Mallrat, known for her iconic hits 'Charlie', 'Uninvited' and 'Groceries', features on New Zealand billion-streaming alt-pop artist BENEE's track titled, 'Do It Again'.

The tournament's official song by the two stars from Down Under, who have a combined following on social media of more than 1.1 million, will be released on June 29.

And while details of the exact proceedings during the opening ceremony remain under wraps, Mallrat is hoping it is her Nikki Webster moment.

"I'm completely obsessed with that. Yes, this is my moment," the two-time ARIA nominee laughed.

"I'm genuinely so excited and I'm really looking forward to it. What gets me feeling giddy is the thought of being out with Stella (BENEE) who's a really good friend of mine and getting to spend time with her and experience this crazy large-scale thing with her. It'll be really fun and a really unique experience."

The official line from FIFA on what the song embodies is the spirit of unity, celebration, and empowerment of the World Cup. But for Mallrat, it's a much more straightforward explanation.

She and BENEE agree, "It feels like running, it's got a lot of momentum".

"When it was about two-thirds of the way finished, I got to record my verse and do some other little bits and pieces on the song and then I went to New Zealand and we properly finished it off, and I love BENEE so that's nice," Mallrat told Optus Sport.

"When I was writing it, I was trying to imagine what an athlete and myself would have in common and just kind of imagining writing it from them in my shoes or me in their shoes, and then making it my own a little more."

Even though those similarities may be few and far between for the 24-year-old, who "didn't play any team sports but did some martial arts" growing up and thought she was "going to be in the UFC" before she started making music, and the 736 players, she hopes it will still connect with them and football fans everywhere.

And although her football knowledge, and current affairs knowledge in general, is limited because she doesn't have wifi at the moment, she knows her stuff.

She was telling BENEE about Barcelona's limited-edition Motomami Rosaline jersey and is looking to don a No.11 Matildas jersey, as she is a "bit of a sucker for making a wish at 11.11".

But it's a different story for BENEE, who got a taste of what to expect last year after performing at the Women's Rugby World Cup 2022 in NZ.