2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup

2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Australia
Dates	1–21 March 2026 (2026-03-01 – 2026-03-21)
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue	5 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (3rd title)
Runners-up	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	27
Goals scored	97 (3.59 per match)
Attendance	358,414 (13,275 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Riko Ueki (6 goals)
Best player	Alanna Kennedy
Best goalkeeper	Ayaka Yamashita
Fair play award	Japan
← 2022 2029 →

The 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 21st edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament in Asia competed by the women's national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Australia was officially selected as the host nation by the AFC Women's Football Committee on 15 May 2024.^[1]

The tournament is serving as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. This 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, the tournament is also serving as the penultimate stage of Asian qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with all eight quarter-finalists qualifying for the 2028 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.^[2]

China were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by hosts Australia. Japan won the tournament by third time defeating Australia by 1-0 in the final in Sydney's Stadium Australia.

The following four football associations submitted their interest to host the tournament by the 31 July 2022 deadline.^[3] Australia was selected as the host nation by the AFC Women's Football Committee on 15 March 2024 following the withdrawals of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.^[4]

• Australia – Australia submitted its interest in hosting the tournament also on 31 July. The country has previously hosted the 2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup, where they finished runners-up. Australia also hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup alongside New Zealand, which is the first FIFA Women's World Cup to be hosted by two nations. The country also hosted the 2015 Men's AFC Asian Cup.

• Jordan – Jordan previously hosted the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup, where they finished bottom of the group stage. Jordan also hosted the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the first in an Arab country.

• Saudi Arabia – On 21 April 2022, Saudi Arabia submitted its bid to host the tournament. Saudi Arabia had never hosted any major women's football tournament, although it hosted the men's FIFA Confederations Cup from 1992 to 1997 and will host the men's Asian Cup in 2027.^[5] On 2 December, the Saudi delegation submitted its bid to host the 2026 edition.^[6] On 23 February 2024, Saudi Arabia withdrew their bid.^[7]

• Uzbekistan – The Central Asian nation submitted its interest on 21 April 2022. The country had never hosted a major women's football tournament before, though it has played in the women's Asian Cup five times. The country has hosted various men's youth competitions, such as the 2008 and 2010 AFC U-16 Championships, the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup and the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup. On 23 February 2024, Uzbekistan withdrew their bid.^[7] The AFC ultimately awarded Uzbekistan the 2029 AFC Women's Asian Cup hosting rights, as the sole bidder.^[1]

The host country Australia qualified automatically, along with the top three teams from the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.^[8]

The following teams qualified for the tournament:

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Australia	Hosts	15 May 2024	7th	2022	Champions (2010)
China	2022 champions	18 December 2024	16th	2022	Champions (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2022)
South Korea	2022 runners-up	18 December 2024	14th	2022	Runners-up (2022)
Japan	2022 third place	18 December 2024	18th	2022	Champions (2014, 2018)
Iran	Group A winners	19 July 2025	2nd	2022	Group stage (2022)
India	Group B winners	5 July 2025	10th	2022	Runners-up (1979, 1983)
Bangladesh	Group C winners	2 July 2025	1st	—N/a	Debut
Chinese Taipei	Group D winners	5 July 2025	15th	2022	Champions (1977, 1979, 1981)
Vietnam	Group E winners	5 July 2025	10th	2022	Sixth place (2014)
Uzbekistan	Group F winners	5 July 2025	6th	2003	Group stage (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003)
Philippines	Group G winners	5 July 2025	11th	2022	Semi-finals (2022)
North Korea	Group H winners	5 July 2025	11th	2010	Champions (2001, 2003, 2008)

All matches were held in venues across New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.^[9] The five selected venues were officially recommended for formal ratification by the AFC on 12 November 2024, including one venue (Stadium Australia) used in the 2015 men's Asian Cup and two venues (Stadium Australia and Perth Rectangular Stadium) used in the 2023 Women's World Cup.^[10]

On 27 February 2025, it was confirmed the opening game would be held at Perth Stadium, with the final held at Stadium Australia.^[11]

2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup venues

Sydney
Stadium Australia	Western Sydney Stadium
Capacity: 79,500	Capacity: 30,000
Perth
Perth Stadium	Perth Rectangular Stadium
Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 19,500
Gold Coast
Gold Coast Stadium
Capacity: 28,000

Note

• Table shows AFC's stated capacities and may differ from the stadium's actual capacity^[12]

The draw was held on 29 July 2025 in Sydney.^[13] The seeding was based on the June 2025 FIFA Women's World Ranking.^[14]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Australia (15) (hosts)  Japan (7)  North Korea (9)	China (17)  South Korea (21)  Vietnam (37)	Philippines (41)  Chinese Taipei (42)  Uzbekistan (51)	Iran (68)  India (70)  Bangladesh (128)

Each team had to register a squad of a minimum of 18 players and maximum of 26 players, at least three of whom had to be goalkeepers (Regulations Article 24.4).

On 7 October 2025, the AFC announced the list of 14 referees, 16 assistant referees, two stand-by referees, two stand-by assistant referees and eleven video match officials for the tournament.^[15][16] Video assistant referees (VAR) would be used from the group stage for the first time in the competition's history.

Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar), Abdullah Al-Shehri (Saudi Arabia), Khuloud Al-Zaabi (United Arab Emirates), and Ramina Tsoi (Kyrgyzstan) were selected for the tournament, however, they did not officiate in any matches. Sabreen Ala'badi (Jordan), who was originally selected as a standby assistant referee, replaced Tsoi. Mamdouh Al-Shadan (Saudi Arabia) and Meshari Al-Shammari (Qatar), who were not selected for the tournament, replaced Al-Marri and Al-Shehri.

Referees

Assistant referees

Video assistant referees

Stand-by referees

Stand-by assistant referees

On 27 January 2026, the organising committee announced that Audrey Nuna would be performing at the opening ceremony ahead of the first game at Perth Stadium on 1 March.^[17][18] She also performed an exclusive half-time performance that was not broadcast.^[19][20]

As well as Nuna's performance, the ceremony also featured Torres Strait Islander artist Zipporah performing the tournament's first-ever official anthem called "That's How We Win" which was written by Nat Dunn, and a Welcome to Country.^[20] Representatives from all competing nations were officially welcomed in their respective native languages.^[21]

On 14 March 2026, it was announced that Australian artist G Flip would be performing at the closing ceremony, to take place before the Final at Stadium Australia on 21 March.^[22]

The top two teams of each group and the two best third-placed teams qualified for the quarter-finals.^[23]

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:^[23]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

All times are local.^[24]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	2	1	0	9	3	+6	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Australia (H)	3	2	1	0	8	3	+5	7
3	Philippines	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Iran	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	North Korea	3	2	0	1	9	2	+7	6
3	Uzbekistan	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3
4	Bangladesh	3	0	0	3	0	11	−11	0

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	3	3	0	0	17	0	+17	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Chinese Taipei	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	Vietnam	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
4	India	3	0	0	3	2	16	−14	0

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Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Uzbekistan	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3	Advance to knockout stage
2	A	Philippines	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
3	C	Vietnam	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3

The four quarter-final winners qualified directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup, while the four quarter-final losers competed in the play-in matches to determine the final two direct qualifiers, and the two Asian representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs. In addition, the eight quarter-finalists will make up the entrants into the 2028 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.^[26]

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	14 March – Sydney (SA)
	South Korea	6
					18 March – Sydney (SA)
	Uzbekistan	0
					South Korea	1
	15 March – Sydney (SA)
					Japan	4
	Japan	7
									21 March – Sydney (SA)
	Philippines	0
									Japan	1
	14 March – Perth (PRS)
									Australia	0
	China (a.e.t.)	2
					17 March – Perth (PS)
	Chinese Taipei	0
					China	1
	13 March – Perth (PRS)
					Australia	2
	Australia	2
	North Korea	1

					Play-in matches for World Cup and inter-confederation play-offs 19 March – Gold Coast
					Uzbekistan	0
					Philippines	2
					19 March – Gold Coast
					Chinese Taipei	0
					North Korea	4

The winners qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. The losers advanced to the play-in matches.

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The winners qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. The losers advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.

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There were 97 goals scored in 27 matches, for an average of 3.59 goals per match.

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

The following six teams from AFC qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. Two more teams may qualify via the inter-confederation play-offs.^[27]

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup[a]
Australia	13 March 2026	8 (1995[b], 1999[b], 2003[b], 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023)
China	14 March 2026	8 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2019, 2023)
South Korea	14 March 2026	4 (2003, 2015, 2019, 2023)
Japan	15 March 2026	9 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023)
Philippines	19 March 2026	1 (2023)
North Korea	19 March 2026	4 (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011)

Territory	Rights holder	Ref.
Australia	Paramount+ Network 10	[28][29]
Bangladesh,  Nepal,  Sri Lanka,  Bhutan,  Pakistan	tapmad	[28]
China	CMG iQIYI Migu Video	[28]
Hong Kong	HOY TV	[28]
India	FanCode	[28]
Indonesia,  Papua New Guinea,  Timor-Leste	MNC Media	[28]
Japan	DAZN	[28]
Kazakhstan	QSport	[28]
South Korea	Coupang Play	[28]
Macau	Mplus TDM	[28]
Malaysia	Astro	[28]
Middle East[note 1]	beIN Sports Alkass	[28]
Pacific Islands	Free TV Pasifika TV	[28]
Philippines	PFF (Facebook) One Sports Pilipinas Live	[28][30]
Taiwan	Sportcast	[28]
Tajikistan	Varzish TV	[28]
Thailand	BG Sports (YouTube)	[28]
Uzbekistan	Sport	[28]
Vietnam	TV360 VTV HTV	[31][32] [33][34]
Outside Asia	AFC Asian Cup (YouTube)	[35]
Latin America and Caribbean	ESPN Disney+	[28]

In February 2026, after a number of players resigned from the Iran women's national football team and refereeing organization following the massacres in the country, the Iranian Football Federation reportedly threatened them with multi-year bans from professional football activities, judicial action, and long prison sentences.^[36][37] In March 2026, after the Iran women's national football team players refused to sing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic as a form of silent protest ahead of their Women's Asian Cup opener against South Korea, concerns grew for their safety following threats from Iranian state media.^[38][39] Ahead of the following match against Australia, the national team players were reportedly forced to sing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with threats to the players' family members if they did not.^[40] After the team's exit from the tournament on 8 March, members of the team gave what appeared to be SOS hand signals from the bus as they were leaving, leading to protests and growing calls for Australia to offer the team refuge after the players were accused of being wartime traitors by Iranian state media for not singing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic in their opening game amid the Iran war.^{[41][42][43][44]}

On 9 March, five members of the Iranian women’s national football team – Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, and Mona Hamoudi – left the team’s training camp in Australia and sought refuge due to fears of retaliation from Iranian authorities.^[45] On 10 March, US president Donald Trump publicly urged the Australian government to grant asylum to the players, stating they could face persecution if they returned to Iran.^[46] It was reported that the women had been helped to escape by the Australian Federal Police around 1:30 am, and had been granted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had been working with the AFP on the issue for some time, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the team were safe in Australia.^[47][48]

Former Chinese Taipei national football team coach Chen Kuei-jen was removed during the match between the Chinese Taipei and India in Sydney for leading fans to chant "Taiwan Jiayou" ("Go Taiwan"), after refusing to follow officials who ordered him to only use Chinese Taipei as the use of Taiwan was considered "political". Despite this, following Chinese Taipei's victory, Chen continued the Taiwan chant with the players on their bus. Following this incident, Taiwanese politician Lee Po-yi stated that he would contact the Ministry of Sports and the Australia's Taipei representative office to demand an explanation from the organisers. Chinese Taipei has been the name used since 1979 to represent Taiwan following the Nagoya Resolution to prevent sporting conflict with China, but the name has become controversial in Taiwan as many citizens have voiced support for being internationally recognized as Taiwan.^[49]

• 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
• 2028 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
• 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup
• 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup

• AFC Women's Asian Cup, the-AFC.com
• Women's World Cup Qualifier, FIFA.com