Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | Australia |
Dates | 1–21 March |
Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
Venue(s) | 5 (in 3 host cities) |
← 2022 2029 → |
The 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup will be 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 ratified as the host nation by the AFC Women's Football Committee on 15 May 2024. [1]
The final tournament will serve 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 final tournament will also serve 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 are the defending champions.
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]
The host country Australia qualified automatically, along with the top three teams from the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. [8]
The following twelve teams qualified for the tournament:
Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | FIFA Ranking | Previous best performance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Hosts | 15 May 2024 | 7th | 2022 | TBD | Champions (2010) |
![]() | 2022 champions | 18 December 2024 | 16th | 2022 | TBD | Champions (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2022) |
![]() | 2022 runner–ups | 18 December 2024 | 14th | 2022 | TBD | Runners-up (2022) |
![]() | 2022 third place | 18 December 2024 | 18th | 2022 | TBD | Champions (2014, 2018) |
Games will be 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. [10]
Australia | Sydney, New South Wales | Gold Coast, Queensland | Perth, Western Australia |
---|---|---|---|
Stadium Australia | Gold Coast Stadium | Perth Rectangular Stadium | |
Capacity: 82,000 | Capacity: 27,690 | Capacity: 20,500 | |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Western Sydney Stadium | Perth Stadium | ||
Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 65,000 | ||
![]() | ![]() |
The following six teams from AFC will qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. Two more teams may qualify via the inter-confederation play-offs. [11]
Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup [a] |
---|---|---|
TBD | March 2026 | |
TBD | March 2026 | |
TBD | March 2026 | |
TBD | March 2026 | |
TBD | March 2026 | |
TBD | March 2026 |