Ultimate Guide: AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™

Today marks just one month until the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ kicks off on home soil. We've got you covered with everything you need to know before our opening game.

From qualified teams, to our opponents, locations, and qualification for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™ and more!

Qualified Teams

Australia, Bangladesh, China PR, Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, India, IR Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Philippines, Uzbekistan and Vietnam are the 12 teams that qualified for the tournament and will be vying for a chance to win the trophy come the 21st of March.

Only one team will be making their debut at the tournament, Bangladesh, following their dream qualification run that saw them win all three games to book the Bengal Tigresses' place in the final tournament.

The reigning champion heading into the tournament is China PR, which lifted its 9th title in the 2022 edition of the tournament.

Our Group Stage Opponents

Australia kicks off their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ campaign in the opening game on home soil, taking on the Philippines at Perth Stadium on the 1st of March.

This will be only the fourth time the two sides have faced, going head-to-head at the 2022 edition of the tournament, where Australia won 4-0, and more recently playing each other during the Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024™ Asian Qualifiers Round 2, where Australia ran away 8-0 winners at the same venue set to host the opening game.

The team will then face another familiar opposition, travelling to the Gold Coast to face IR Iran. This will be only the second meeting between the two sides, with the last one coming during the Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024™ Asian Qualifiers Round 2, where Australia won 2-0.

Australia's final group stage opponent will be the Korea Republic, a side Australia knows all too well. The sides went head-to-head in a two-match friendly series in Australia early in 2025.

Korea Republic were the side Australia met in the quarter-finals, with Ji So-yun's 87th-minute match-winner knocking the CommBank Matildas out of the last edition of the tournament. The side would go on to reach the final of the 2022 edition, but fell 3-2 to China PR in the decider.

Locations

Perth, Gold Coast and Sydney are set to be the host cities for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™. Perth Stadium, a colossal 60,000-seat stadium, will host the opening game as Australia takes on the Philippines and will also host a semi-final game. Perth Rectangular Stadium will host eight games over the tournament.

Gold Coast Stadium will host Australia's game against IR Iran, three additional group stage games, and the two play-in matches to determine FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™ qualification.

Finally, Sydney's Western Sydney Stadium will host six group stage games, while the 79,500-seat Stadium Australia will host Australia's group stage game against the Korea Republic, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.

Qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™

This tournament serves as a qualification for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™, with six teams going through to next year's competition. The four winners of the quarter-finals will ensure a spot in Brazil, while the four losers will head to a play-in match on the Gold Coast to determine the final two teams. Two more teams from the AFC may qualify via the inter-confederation play-offs later in November 2026.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ will be the last time the qualifications will be linked, as a standalone qualifier for the FIFA Women's World Cup™ will be held starting from the 2031 edition onwards.

For the first time, this tournament will also serve as the penultimate stage of Asian qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with all eight quarter-finalists ensuring a spot in the 2028 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™

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