Women’s Asian Cup 2026: all you need to know about the tournament in Australia

What is the Women’s Asian Cup and when does it start?

The 2026 Women’s Asian Cup is a major continental football tournament. For Australia, the Asian Cup is second only to the World Cup in terms of prestige. The three-week tournament kicks off on Sunday at 5pm AWST (8pm AEDT) with the group A clash between hosts Australia and the Philippines in Perth. The knockout stage starts on Friday 13 March and wraps up on Saturday 21 March with the final at 8pm AEDT.

Where is the Women’s Asian Cup being held?

Unlike the 2023 Women’s World Cup which was spread across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand, just three cities will host games during this Asian Cup: Perth, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Stadium Australia (renamed from Accor Stadium due to AFC sponsorship rules) has the largest capacity of nearly 80,000 and will only be used in the knockout stage and for the Matildas’ third group game in Sydney. The other venues are Perth Stadium (Optus Stadium) and Perth Rectangular Stadium (HBF Park) in Western Australia, Gold Coast Stadium (Cbus Super Stadium) in Queensland, and Western Sydney Stadium (CommBank Stadium) in New South Wales.

How can I watch, and can I still get tickets?

At the time of publishing, tickets were still available for all matches, including the Matildas’ games. If following the action from the comfort of your couch is more your thing, the Guardian will be live-blogging all Matildas matches as well as the semis and final. In Australia, you can watch the Matildas’ matches on the Network 10 or 10Play, and stream all matches behind a paywall on Paramount+.

Who has qualified?

After a qualification period that began in June last year, eight teams won their place at the tournament, joining hosts Australia and the three top teams from the 2022 Asian Cup, who were granted automatic qualification. The 12 countries are divided into three groups of four for the group stage. Australia, Korea, Iran and the Philippines make up Group A. Group B comprises North Korea, China, Bangladesh and Uzebekistan, and Group C comprises Japan, Vietnam, India and Taiwan. The top two teams from each group progress to the quarter-finals along with the two best third-placed finishers.

Who is in the Matildas squad?

Australian coach Joe Montemurro has named a 26-player squad for the tournament which includes three goalkeepers, eight defenders, six midfielders and nine forwards. Everything you need to know about the Matildas is in our player-by-player guide. A notable inclusion is Mary Fowler who has not been back on the pitch for long since recovering from her ACL injury. Matildas veterans and World Cup heroes in search of a last chance at silverware line up alongside a promising selection of the next generation.

Is Sam Kerr playing?

It was the most asked question of the Women’s World Cup in 2023. After Kerr ruptured her ACL in January 2024 it morphed into, “When will Sam Kerr be back?” The Chelsea striker was out of action for nearly two years and is only now starting to look like the formidable player she had become. During that time she was found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of police officer after a lengthy legal process in England. Kerr only returned to the Matildas lineup in December but has since been on the score sheet for Chelsea.

When are Australia’s games?

Group stage

1 March: Australia v the Philippines, 5pm AWST (8pm AEDT), Perth Stadium

5 March: Iran v Australia, 7pm AEST (8pm AEDT), Gold Coast Stadium

8 March: Australia v Korea, 8pm AEDT, Stadium Australia

Knockout stage (predictions)

14 March: third quarter-final, 8pm AEDT, Stadium Australia

18 March: second semi-final, 8pm AEDT, Stadium Australia

12 March: final, 8pm AEDT, Stadium Australia

What happened last time?

The grey cloud hanging over this tournament is the memory of just how disastrous the 2022 edition in India was for the Matildas. They were unceremoniously dumped out in the quarter-finals by South Korea and left wondering how things could have gone quite so wrong. Tony Gustavsson somehow held on to the job, before his tenure ended with a disastrous Olympic campaign three years later. South Korea progressed to the 2022 final where they lost 3-2 to China.

Can the Matildas win the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026?

The short answer is, “yes”. The longer answer is, “it won’t be easy”. Under interim coach Tom Sermani and now Montemurro, the Matildas have not been able to find the form that drove them to fourth place in the 2023 World Cup.

Click here to read article