PESHAWAR – The draw has been made, the schedule unveiled, and the countdown is officially on. Asia’s biggest stage for women’s football, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026, will unfold in Australia next March, promising a month-long festival of the game across Perth, Sydney and the Gold Coast.
The Matildas, riding a wave of home-ground expectation, will open the tournament on 1 March at Perth Stadium against the Philippines. It will be their 35th Asian Cup appearance since joining the confederation, and the first act in a competition that will climax three weeks later under the lights of Stadium Australia on 21 March.
There are early narratives already shaping the tournament. Bangladesh, making their debut, will find themselves up against defending champions China PR in what has the makings of a classic mismatch—and perhaps an upset—on 3 March in Western Sydney.
DPR Korea, three-time champions but absent since 2010, will return to face Uzbekistan in the group stage. And on 8 March, International Women’s Day, the Matildas will meet Korea Republic at Stadium Australia in what could be one of the most symbolic fixtures of the campaign.
The draw places regional heavyweights alongside ambitious newcomers, setting up a group stage that blends tradition with transformation. For the Asian game, it is a showcase of depth as much as dominance, and for Australia, another opportunity to underline its status as a host nation capable of staging women’s football on the grandest scale.
The AFC billed the Sydney ceremony as a celebration; what follows in March will test the resilience, ambition and imagination of a dozen teams. And for supporters from across the continent, the tournament offers something rare—a festival of football where the storylines are as compelling off the pitch as on it.
