Football at the 2026 Asian Games

Football at the 2026 Asian Games
Pictogram for Football
Event details
Games	2026 Asian Games
Host country	Japan
Dates	14 September – 3 October 2026
Venues	7 (in 6 host cities)
Competitors	TBA from 20 nations
Men's tournament
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Women's tournament
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Editions
← 2022 2030 →

The football tournament at the 2026 Asian Games will be held in Nagoya, Toyota, Kariya, Gifu, Fukuroi and Osaka from 14 September to 3 October 2026. ^[1]

Two different tournaments will be held in this sport: men's and women's.

South Korea are the men's defending champions. Japan are the women's defending champions.

Competition schedule

To be confirmed.

Venues

A total of seven venues around six cities were used. ^[1]

Eleven venues were chosen for the bid after Nagoya was selected, including Toyota, Nagoya, Kariya, Oita, Utsunomiya, Yokohama, Hiroshima, Suita, Saitama, Chiba and Chōfu. Those venues where shortlisted to Toyota, Nagoya, Kariya, Gifu, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, then later excluded Kyoto and Kobe on 30 April 2025. Notably, none of the stadiums used in the 2020 Olympics and 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup will be used in this tournament, and the Shizuoka Stadium with Nagai Stadium are the only stadiums in this tournament that were used in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

On 12 February 2026, it was confirmed that the Toyota Stadium will host the men's finals, while Shizuoka Stadium will host the women's finals.

Fukuroi	Osaka	Toyota	Gifu
Shizuoka Stadium	Nagai Stadium	Toyota Stadium	Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium
Capacity: 50,889	Capacity: 47,816	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 26,109
Nagoya	Fukuroi Osaka Toyota Gifu Nagoya Kariya
Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium
Capacity: 11,900
Nagoya
CS Asset Minato Soccer Stadium
Capacity: 6,700
Kariya
Wave Stadium
Capacity: 2,602

Qualification

In the previous editions, participating nations were free to enter teams in the football tournament of the Asian Games. For the 2026 Asian Games, a qualification criteria was set up with the 16 participating teams of the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup qualifying for the men's tournament, and the 12 teams of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup eligible to play in the women's tournament. ^{[2] [3]} Due to Australia not being a member of the OCA, they are not eligible to participate in the tournament. Both replacement slots in the men’s and the women’s tournament will be decided later.

Nation	Men's	Women's
Bangladesh
China
Chinese Taipei
India
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Jordan
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
North Korea
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Syria
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
TBD
Total: 20 NOCs	15/16	11/12

Participating teams

Men's tournament

•   China
•   Iran
•   Iraq
•   Japan (host)
•   Jordan
•   Kyrgyzstan
•   Lebanon
•   Qatar
•   Saudi Arabia
•   Syria
•   South Korea
•   Thailand
•   United Arab Emirates
•   Uzbekistan
•   Vietnam
• TBD

Women's tournament

•   Bangladesh
•   China
•   Chinese Taipei
•   India
•   Iran
•   Japan (host)
•   North Korea
•   Philippines
•   South Korea
•   Uzbekistan
•   Vietnam
• TBD

Men's tournament

Main article: Football at the 2026 Asian Games – Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Main article: Football at the 2026 Asian Games – Women's tournament

Medal summary

To be confirmed.

References

1. Butler, Nick (25 September 2016). "Aichi and Nagoya officially awarded 2026 Asian Games". Inside the Games. insidethegames.biz. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
2. "FAS outlines enhanced youth international programme across U22, U19 and U16 age groups". Football Association of Singapore (FAS). 9 February 2026. Archived from the original on 15 February 2026. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
3. "Young Lions and Lionesses will not be at 2026 Asian Games, says FAS". The Straits Times. 10 February 2026. Retrieved 11 February 2026.