Australia’s Matildas Unite a Nation and Crack the Code Wars

The World Cup has added a new dimension to a national sporting conversation often dominated by the rivalry between rugby and Australian rules football.

Young fans of the Australia soccer team are walking outside the stadium carrying a yellow “Go Matildas” banner with black lettering.Inside the vast sweep of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, almost nobody was paying attention to what was happening on the field. Those fans who remained in their seats were staring up at the big screens, absorbed by a game a thousand miles away. Many had given up the pretense entirely: They were on the concourse, gathered around any television they could find.

The match they had come to watch at the M.C.G. was a…