Being a goalkeeper is the loneliest job in football, so they say.

And, in light of the strange scenario that has left passionate Matildas fans unable to buy Aussie goalie Mackenzie Arnold's number 18 jersey, you might as well get "neglected" in there too.

Arnold's penalty shootout heroics enshrined her in Aussie sporting folklore but friends, family and young fans can't show their love by snapping up a replica Arnold jersey.

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Turns out, it's a goalkeeper thing.

Fans can buy replica jerseys with the names and numbers for every single Matildas player in the World Cup squad except for the three keepers – Arnold, Teagan Micah and Lydia Williams.

And, equally bizarrely, it's not just a Matildas thing.

Nike and Adidas, the two biggest kit manufacturers in women's football, have chosen to not make any goalkeeper jerseys available for sale for the women's World Cup.

When asked about the discrepancy, a Nike spokesperson told 9news.com.au the sportswear giant works with FIFA and the individual federations "to determine what assortment and particular player jerseys go on sale based on several factors, including demand in some markets".

A petition highlighting the glaring issue, and demanding a "rethink" on the divisive decision, has garnered almost 40,000 signatures.

"As a dad to a young female goalkeeper, what message is this sending to kids about playing in that position?" one user posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"The goalies are just as valuable as anyone else on the team," another person wrote using the hashtag #selltheirshirts, adding: "I want a goalkeeper jersey!"

Millions of Aussies were in Arnold's corner on Saturday night, as she made three clutch saves in the shootout and even took a spot-kick which could have sealed the win over France but missed.

It didn't matter though, as Australia advanced and will now meet England in one semi-final, a game which pits Arnold against English stopper Mary Earps, who has been asking Nike about the lack of her own replica goalkeeper kit for months.

Earps has called Nike's failure to offer her jersey for sale as "hugely disappointing and very hurtful".

She told The Guardian she has been "fighting behind closed doors" and "desperately trying to find a solution" with England's governing body, the Football Association, and Nike.

When England triumphed in the European Championships last year, Earps' replica kit was not available.

Nothing has changed.

"On a personal level, it is hugely hurtful," she said.

READ MORE: Coveted Matildas kit selling like hotcakes, leaving Socceroos in dust

Last week, 9news.com.au reported Matildas kit was flying off the shelves and had been easily outselling Socceroos jerseys.

In response to that story, Nike Pacific boss Ashley Reade told 9news.com.au that demand for Matildas jerseys has been "unprecedented".

"In fact, there were more jerseys sold before a ball was even kicked in this year's tournament than were sold pre, during, and post the 2022 men's tournament," he said.

He called it a "true testament to the power and excitement" surrounding the women's game and underlined the impact the Matildas were having on fans of all ages.

Australia faces England at what will be a sold-out Stadium Australia on Wednesday night at 8pm.

9news.com.au has contacted Adidas for comment.

READ MORE: Public holiday, 'ticker tape parade' in Sydney if Matildas win the Cup, Premier Chris Minns says

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An explosion in a residential suburb on Saturday morning left five people dead and three injured, US officials said.

The explosion and large fire in Plum, Pennsylvania, a suburb north-east of Pittsburgh, destroyed three houses and damaged at least a dozen more, authorities said.

First responders who rushed to Plum found people trapped under debris and took three people to a hospital. Of the three, two have been released and the third is in the hospital in critical condition, according to police.

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The remains of five victims – four adults and one adolescent – were also found at the scene.

The incident appeared to begin when one house exploded, engulfing two neighbouring homes in flames as well, according to the county.

Multiple other homes were damaged with windows blown out.

Crews from 18 different fire departments converged on the scene to put out the flames and sift through the rubble as "several" people remained unaccounted for Saturday afternoon.

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It's unclear what triggered the explosion.

Authorities say the cause is still under investigation.

Gas systems were "operating as designed" at the time of the explosion, said Michael Huwar, the president of the gas service Peoples Natural Gas.

Still, gas service was shut off to a number of homes in the neighbourhood as a precaution.

A company spokesperson told CNN on Sunday its crews continue to work and coordinate with the Allegheny County Fire Marshal, which is leading the investigation.

Ring doorbell video obtained by CNN affiliate WTAE appears to show one of the homes exploding in a ball of fire, shooting up a thick plume of smoke and scattering debris in the area.

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The aftermath of the blast and blaze can be seen in aerial footage of the neighbourhood, which shows three structures completely burned to the ground, surrounded by heavy debris covering surrounding lawns and homes.

Several cars near the scorched area could also be seen charred black and smoking.

"I heard this 'boom.' It was so loud that it woke me up. I thought it was thunder from the storms last night," neighbour Alexis Typanski told WTAE.

"My water bottle fell on me instantaneously. I was shaking. It scared me so bad."

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By 4.30pm local time, the area was still considered an "active scene" and first responders were expected to remain there for hours, according to the county.

Plum is about 24 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh.

Gas was turned off in the area while emergency crews worked at the scene, authorities said at a news conference, adding multiple representatives from different gas companies were at the scene.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are assisting residents impacted by the explosion, the county said.

The tragedy comes as deadly wildfires, that have killed at least 93 people, continue to rage on Maui, Hawaii.

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Bright trails of light streaked across the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere as the annual Perseid meteor shower peaked early on Sunday, August 13. With only a sliver of moon in the sky, the conditions were ideal for seeing lots of meteors.

A MiG 23 Russian fighter jet wowing crowds at a popular US airshow "dropped like a bullet" and crashed near an apartment complex.

Footage of the accident, taken by witnesses, showed two pilots ejecting with parachutes from the low-lying jet as it performed a series of manoeuvres above Willow Run Airport in Michigan.

Detroit News reported smoke could be seen south of the airport, where the plane from the Thunder of Michigan airshow appeared to have crashed.

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Marsha Bogardus, a regular at the airshow, told Detroit News the scene had frightened her children.

"We heard these huge booms. I started recording and saw the two pilots eject.

"It scared my kids and everyone was freaking out.

"It dropped like a bullet straight down near an apartment complex we live by. Not sure where it landed."

Local media reported the two pilots were recovered from a body of water and neither had significant injuries.

In a statement, Wayne County Airport Authority confirmed no one at the apartment complex or the air show was injured.

The FAA is investigating the crash.

More to come.

A raging wildfire that swept through a picturesque town on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week has killed at least 89 people, authorities say, making it the deadliest US wildfire of the past century.

The new death toll on Saturday (Sunday AEST) came as federal emergency workers with axes and cadaver dogs picked through the aftermath of the blaze, marking the ruins of homes with a bright orange X for an initial search and HR when they found human remains.

Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colourless landscape.

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The inferno that swept through the centuries-old town of Lahaina on Maui’s west coast four days earlier torched hundreds of homes and turned a lush, tropical area into a moonscape of ash.

The state's governor predicted more bodies will be found.

“It’s going to rise," Governor Josh Green remarked on Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street.

"It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced. … We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.”

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said two of the 89 victims have been identified so far, adding that identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart.”

“When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal. We have to do rapid DNA to identify them. Every one of these 89 are John and Jane Does," he said.

"We know we’ve got to go quick, but we’ve got to do it right.”

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At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86 per cent were residential.

Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to US$6 billion ($9 billion).

He said it would take “an incredible amount of time” to recover."

At least two other fires have been burning in Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry.

A fourth broke out on Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community in West Maui north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said.

Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96 per cent were residential.

Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes.

As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early on Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.

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Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house.

But as the flames moved closer and closer on Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out.

Each escaped to his own car.

When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.

Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved three-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.

Bill Wyland, who lives on the island of Oahu but owns an art gallery on Lahaina's historic Front Street, fled on his Harley Davidson, whipping the motorcycle onto empty sidewalks on Tuesday to avoid traffic-jammed roads as embers burned the hair off the back of his neck.

Riding in winds he estimated to be at least 112kms/ph, he passed a man on a bicycle who was pedaling for his life.

“It’s something you’d see in a Twilight Zone, horror movie or something,” Wyland said.

The newly released death toll surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise.

A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.

The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people.

An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency alert system with sirens that are tested monthly.

Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate the warning sirens sounded before fire hit the town.

Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

READ MORE: Push grows for public holiday if Matildas win World Cup

Front Street, the heart of the historic downtown and Maui's economic hub, was nearly empty of life on Saturday morning.

An Associated Press journalist encountered one barefoot resident carrying a laptop and a passport, who asked where the nearest shelter was.

Another, riding a bicycle, took stock of the damage at the harbor, where he said his boat caught fire and sank.

Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure.

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After a summer of disastrous deluges, a report finds our city planning needs a rethink.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has warned businesses would be hurt, if there was a public holiday for Australia if the Matildas win the World Cup.

The team secured their place in the semi-final after defeating France in a thrilling penalty shootout last night.

Littleproud said while he was fully supportive of the team, a public holiday would not work in the best interests for business owners.

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"I don't want to be Captain Killjoy on this but look, I think business has a point here – it's easy to call for a national public holiday when someone else is paying for it," he told ABC's Insiders program.

"I think we've just got to understand that someone's got to foot that bill and businesses out there are doing it tough.

"We live in a great nation – we can celebrate our wins, but we've got to get on and pay the bills and make sure that the country keeps going."

It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated a public holiday was increasingly likely if the Matildas win the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Albanese was in Brisbane to witness the stunning quarter-final victory over France and before kick-off he had more praise for a side that is "inspiring an entire nation".

After last week flagging a national day of celebration should the Matildas lift the trophy on August 20, the prime minister was not retreating ahead of the nail-biter against France that sees Australia now in a World Cup semi-final for the first time.

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"I do not that there were concerns expressed when we had a public holiday for the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II and some said that that was something that would cause economic disruption," Albanese told the media on Saturday before the Matildas game.

"What that did, of course, was increase economic activity in a whole lot of businesses, particularly small businesses, and it actually benefited a whole range of those businesses."

He reiterated the decision would ultimately be for state and territory governments to make, although last week he stoked hopes of a public holiday when he said individual jurisdictions would "fold like tents" when presented with the argument.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has supported Albanese's proposal.

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"We'd love to back the Matildas with a public holiday," he said, in a statement read on-air by 2GB host Ben Fordham.

"We'd work with the other states and the Commonwealth to get the right date.

"It's going to be raised at National Cabinet next week. In the meantime, we'll get behind the Matildas for the next two games."

Minns also announced plans to also open Commbank Stadium in Parramatta and Allianz stadium in Moore Park on Wednesday for fans to watch on big screens at 8pm.

"This is an opportunity to get behind this national side," he said.

"Get behind this historic opportunity."

With the date for the grand final a Sunday, it's not known what the public holiday would be.

But there is some opposition to the notion.

Vaucluse MP and NSW shadow environment minister Kellie Sloane said it would be an unfair burden on business owners.

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"It's populist politics, and it's damaging to the economy," she said.

She said she would be supporting the Matildas regardless.

"I can celebrate and still go to work the next day," she said.

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With spring just around the corner, temperatures will start to rise slightly.

Volunteers from Marine Rescue New South Wales have helped free a humpback whale that became entangled off the state's Mid North Coast early today.

A boat and crew were deployed to help NSW National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS) experts free the whale at about 8am.

Footage taken by Marine Rescue NSW showed the rescue effort and the dramatic moments the humpback whale breaches from the ocean after it was freed at about 11am.

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"Marine Rescue NSW crews train with NPWS across the state for these situations and today's result is a wonderful outcome," Acting Northern Zone Commander Murray said.

NPWS experts are investigating what the whale became entangled in.

Starting around June, tens of thousands of humpbacks migrate up Australia's east coast from Antarctica to warmer waters.

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The toddler went missing from her Henderson home this afternoon.