Hometown hero Sam Kerr and Arsenal star Caitlin Foord have scored hat-tricks as the Matildas all but guaranteed passage to the next round of Olympic qualifying with an 8-0 rout of the Philippines in Perth.

In front of a sellout crowd of 59,155 at Optus Stadium on Sunday, Kerr and Foord scored first-half doubles as Australia took a 5-0 lead into the break.

Kerr secured her hat-trick just 24 seconds into the second half when she headed home a pin-point cross from Mary Fowler for her 68th goal from 127 internationals.

Foord notched her own hat-trick in the 56th minute when she danced around an opponent on the byline and nailed her shot from a tight angle.

The result thrust the Matildas to the top of Group A on six points, meaning all they need is a draw against Taiwan at HBF Park next Wednesday to guarantee progression to the final stage of qualification in February.

Even with a loss the Matildas would either top the group or at least qualify as the best runner-up from the three Asian confederation groups.

The only concern from Sunday’s match was a suspected hamstring injury to substitute Cortnee Vine, who came off in the 75th minute just 10 minutes after coming on.

“They’re going to assess her again in the morning,” Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said.

“It’s too early to say if she’s ruled for the last game, but with my experience, I think there’s very little chance that she will be ready.”

The Matildas rested most of their biggest stars in Thursday’s 2-0 win against Iran, but they wheeled out a full-strength outfit against the Philippines in a match that would effectively decide the group winner.

Kerr, Foord, Mackenzie Arnold, Steph Catley and Fowler were among the 10 changes, and it didn’t take long for the floodgates to open.

Fowler opened the scoring in the 15th minute courtesy of a clever deflection from Foord.

And the crowd went into a frenzy when Kerr scored from close range in the 19th minute following a superb run by Foord, who beat two opponents before dishing off the assist.

Kerr turned provider for the next goal when she expertly controlled Fowler’s lobbed pass before dishing off to Foord to score in the 30th minute.

Foord added another three minutes later when she held off an opponent before sliding a shot past the goalkeeper as she was falling to ground.

Kerr made it 5-0 on the stroke of half-time when she found herself one-on-one against the goalkeeper and blasted the ball into the back of the net.

The Matildas skipper headed home Fowler’s cross just 24 seconds into the second half, and it was party time in the 56th minute when Foord evaded an opponent to secure her hat-trick.

Kerr, Hayley Raso, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Katrina Gorry were subbed off in the 65th minute with the job done, but substitute Clare Wheeler ensured the party continued with a 72nd-minute rocket from the edge of the box to secure her maiden international goal.

Foord was named player of the match for her three goals and four goal assists.

“Me and Sam have played together for years. And the likes of Emily van Egmond coming on – we’ve played just as long together,” Foord said when asked about the team’s excellent chemistry.

“I think it just clicked today, and we were all on the same page.”

In Sunday’s other match, the Olympic hopes of both Taiwan and Iran ended after they fought out a 0-0 draw.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has hinted he will resist the temptation of resting his biggest stars despite already sealing passage through to the next round of Olympic qualifying.

Gustavsson fielded a second-string XI against Iran before unleashing his strongest line-up against the Philippines.

Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord both scored hat-tricks in the rout, with rising star Mary Fowler and substitute Clare Wheeler also getting on the score sheet.

The three-day break between Sunday’s win over the Philippines and Wednesday’s clash with Taiwan means Gustavsson will have some lengthy talks with his medical team before deciding on selection.

But Gustavsson says he’s eager to reward in-form players with a starting spot, and also better prepare them on how to handle a hectic schedule like the one they will face if they qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.

Australia need to win a two-legged play-off against a yet-to-be-decided Asian Confederation team in order to qualify for the Olympics.

“I said it straight away in the circle that they should be extremely proud about the performance but also that they need to be extremely professional when it comes to recovery, because this is also a rehearsal,” Gustavsson said.

“If you want to go all the way to the Olympics, this is how tight the games will be in an Olympics. Only 48 hours to recover and then another game comes up. “So we need to be extremely professional.

“Physical and mental recovery is key now and then I’m probably going to have some some really in depth and tough discussions with my tech staff about how we line up the team on Wednesday.”

Gustavsson said the growing depth in his squad meant there would be some players who miss a spot in the starting XI despite being in form.

“The problem is that I have more than 10 starters now because there’s more than 10 players that actually deserve to start,” Gustavsson said.

“So that’s going to be the conversation. How are we going to start the game, how we’re going to finish the games?”

Cortnee Vine is almost certain to miss the match against Taiwan after suffering a suspected hamstring injury in the win over the Philippines.

Source: AAP