After successfully co-hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with New Zealand, news broke this week that Australia is firming as the favourite to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
It comes after news broke that Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, two of the four bidding nations who posed the greatest threat to Australia’s hosting of the tournament, removed themselves from the race.
Australia to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup
This has left Australia as the frontrunner for hosting the tournament, its second international football tournament in three years following the widely successful Women’s World Cup. While the Jordan Football Association remains in the hosting race, it appears to be Australia’s to lose.
This is especially true considering a press release following Football Australia’s announcement it was withdrawing from the race for the 2034 Men’s FIFA World Cup, later awarded to Saudi Arabia, where James Johnson confirmed the nation was in a ‘strong position’ to host the 2026 WAC.
And while Australia sitting in the driver’s seat to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, as well as the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, feels like a ‘thank you’ present from FIFA for allowing the deep pockets of Saudi Arabia to run unopposed for the 2034 WC hosting rights, it must still be celebrated.
Women’s football has skyrocketed since the 2023 Women’s World Cup, as evidenced by recent Football Australia reporting that revealed the tournament’s impacts. These included:
- A $1.32 billion economic impact on the Australian economy
- 1.288 million tickets sold
- 86,654 international visitors
- $398 million in federal and state funding
Since the tournament, the Matildas have not only become mainstream, featuring on 60 Minutes and selling out three consecutive games in AFL heartland, Perth but are also arguably the most popular Australian national team around.
As a result of their rise, the domestic women’s game down under has increased in popularity. The opening round of the 2023-24 A-League Women’s season attracted record crowds, including 11,500 packing out Allianz Stadium for a season-opening Sydney derby.
Add the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup to the mix and it’s likely the immense momentum of Australian women’s football can continue into the near future, which is an exciting prospect for not only football fans, but fans of all sports, particularly women’s sports.
Success in one women’s sport can inspire success and investment in others. This can only be a good thing for the nation’s sporting ecosystem which is always growing and evolving.
For the Matilda’s, 2026 comes 16 years after their first, and only, Women’s Asian Cup victory in 2010. That tournament, hosted by China, saw Australia beat North Korea on penalties in the final, played in front of 1,200 people at Chengdu Sports Centre.
As she’s always done, Sam Kerr scored in that final, while fellow 2023 Women’s World Cup participants Kyah Simon, Clare Polkinghorne, Tameka Yallop, Aivi Luik and Lydia Williams were all named in the squad for the final.
The Matildas will be hoping to emulate the success the Socceroos tasted when they hosted the 2015 Asian Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s side beat South Korea, spearheaded by current Tottenham Hotspurs star, Heung-Min Son, on penalties.
