Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide miss out on hosting rights for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup
Three major cities have missed out on hosting AFC Women’s Asian Cup games in 2026 while shock inclusions shape as the major winners. See all the dates and venues here.
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Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide will all miss out on hosting AFC Women’s Asian Cup games in 2026 as the tournament’s dates and venues were unveiled on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.
It was announced that the tournament would run from March 1 to 21 and be played at five venues across three states in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.
Matches will be played at Stadium Australia and CommBank Stadium in Sydney, Optus Stadium and HBF Park in Perth and Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, with major cities Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide unable, or unwilling, to get involved.
“Today marks an exciting milestone for Football Australia and Australian football,” Football Australia CEO James Johnson said.
“These venues not only showcase Australia’s elite sporting infrastructure but also hold a rich legacy in our sport, with some great moments being played at these stadiums.
“We of course hosted a great Women’s World Cup in Australia only recently and we’ve seen the power and the impact of women’s international football on our communities and on our sport. We’re keen to keep this momentum going throughout this competition in 2026.”
Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, which had never hosted an international men’s or women’s football match until the Socceroos took on Bahrain in September, was the preferred option to host Queensland’s fixtures in a major win for the region.
The Matildas are set to play on the Gold Coast for the first time in their history in December when they tackle the might of Olympic silver medallists Brazil in a friendly.
Cbus Super Stadium has a capacity just shy of 28,000.
“(The Gold Coast) is a brilliant place, the weather is great, the people are great, we love to be in Queensland,” Johnson said.
“It’s a great place with so many great players … we wanted to experience what its like to play here at Gold Coast Stadium and we got that opportunity a few weeks ago with the Socceroos.
“We see a big opportunity to continue to grow the participation of players in Queensland and certainly on the Gold Coast, we’re very happy we’ve landed on this decision to be on the Gold Coast.
“If you look at Queensland more broadly … we have a great relationship with the state, the players like to come here, we like to be here. We’ve been up to Townsville, we’ve been in Brisbane, but not so much on the Gold Coast.”
Johnson said that Football Australia was in the fortunate position of having more supply than demand when it came to the venues it had to choose from to host major matches, while the surprise omissions of Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide will allow the likes of Suncorp Stadium and AAMI Park to continue to host A-League and NRL matches in March.
“We had three outstanding bids in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales and we’re very happy with all three states and the stadiums that are involved,” Johnson said.
“Melbourne is obviously an important city in terms of our agenda, we’re going to be there tomorrow for the Socceroos vs. Saudi Arabia, but for this tournament we felt the three best bids were Queensland, New South Wales and also Western Australia.”
Football Australia is still thrashing out the details of the full match schedule with the AFC, and that is expected to be released in early 2025, along with confirmation of where the final will be played.
Asia’s 12 premier nations will be competing across the three-week tournament, and the last time Australia hosted the Women’s Asian Cup was 2006, while it also hosted the men’s instalment in 2015.
“Football Australia is committed to making the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup the biggest and best ever, in terms of attendance, broadcast numbers and community engagement,” Johnson said.
“Our legacy from 2023 set a new standard for sporting legacy programs and we look forward in the coming months to talking about our legacy plan for this competition leading up to the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and also beyond.”
“The Women’s Asian Cup is predicted to attract between 43,000 and 55,000 unique visitors from interstate and also overseas.
“Additionally, hosting the tournament is expected to create up to 1000 direct and indirect jobs in the community.
“The overall impact on Australia’s GDP is estimated to be between $95 million and $105 million, underscoring the significant economic uplift for our community, further enhancing Australia’s standing as a great country to host the world’s best competitions.”
Originally published as Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide miss out on hosting rights for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup
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