More than two years on from co-hosting the 2023 Women's World Cup, Australians have again shown their enthusiasm for international soccer, shattering a series of attendance records for the quadrennial showpiece.
Another bumper crowd in Saturday's final between Australia and Japan at Sydney's Stadium Australia will lift the cumulative attendance well above 300,000, more than five times the previous record of 59,910 at the 2010 event in China.
A crowd of 60,279 at Stadium Australia watched Australia's 3-3 draw against South Korea, the biggest ever for a Women's Asian Cup match. It also smashed the group-stage record of 50,276 who watched 2015 hosts Australia play Oman in the men's tournament.
The popularity and success of the hosting Matildas have boosted the figures but Australia's migrant communities have also turned out to support other visiting teams.
The crowd of 17,367 for Japan's semi-final win over South Korea was a tournament record for a match involving two non-hosting nations.
"Overall, I believe this edition represents a significant turning point for women's football in Asia," Kanya Keomany, chairperson of the governing Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Football Committee, said in a statement.
On the pitch, though, the gap between the continent's traditional powers and the rest remains as stark as ever.
Australia and Japan will play off for the title for the third time in four Asian Cups.
The AFC expanded the tournament to 12 nations from eight in 2022 but it continues to be largely a closed shop.
Japan and Australia aside, only nine-times champions China, North Korea and South Korea have made the final in the past quarter of a century.
The familiar hierarchy has highlighted a lack of upward mobility among emerging nations whose women's programmes remain hamstrung by a lack of resources and professionalism.
"It is very difficult for (their players) to be able to commit the same amount of time to the sport as the others are," Beau Busch, the Asia-Oceania president of football players' union FIFPRO, told Reuters.
"That leaves Asia quite vulnerable to almost a two-speed economy emerging."
While Europe has taken the lead in developing the women's game and generated record revenues and sponsorship in competitions, Asia has been late to the party.
Rich Gulf nations invest billions in European football but have devoted only a fraction of the resources into developing their women's programmes.
Bahrain at world number 110 is the Gulf's highest-ranked women's team while 69th-ranked Iran is the best in West Asia.
Qatar, which hosted the men's World Cup in 2022, is unranked in women's soccer.
The AFC has taken steps to develop the women's game, including launching the Women's Champions League in 2024, but critics say progress has been uneven.
Prize money remains a key issue.
The Asian Cup's US$1.8m pool is the lowest among women's continental competitions, barely half of that offered by the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (US$3.47m).
It is about 12% of the prize pool offered for the 2023 men's Asian Cup in Qatar.
The much-criticised prize pool at the 2023 Women's World Cup was about a quarter of the men's in 2022.
The AFC did not respond to requests for comment about prize money inequality and funding for women's programmes.
Players remain frustrated with gender funding gaps in their home nations. South Korea's women threatened last year to boycott this Asian Cup over conditions.
Busch said the AFC needed to set an example for its member federations by bridging the gender gap in prize money while setting a clear plan for women's football that lifts all boats.
"For Asia to be successful and really develop into a football powerhouse, we don’t need two or three great nations. We need 10 or 12 to really drive competitiveness," he said.
"You can’t hit a target you’re not aiming for.
"What we’d really like to see is clarity around a real roadmap for the development of women’s football across Asia.”