Matildas’ encore on home soil cause for excitement for fans and FA alike

For the better part of three years, Australian football more or less revolved around the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was a marker for players as they mapped out that portion of their careers to make sure they were part of it, the almost sole focus of administrators who worked to leverage it for broader gains, and something for everyone involved in the game to look forward to.

The buzz has been and gone, but another dose will soon be delivered.

Late on Wednesday night, Australia was awarded the hosting rights for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. It was not unexpected: since there have been no other bidders for the tournament for several months, there was only going to be one outcome in this one-horse race when the AFC’s executive committee considered the matter at their latest meeting in Bangkok. Football Australia had already revealed where it would be played, announcing NSW, Queensland and Western Australia as the three host states.

But now that the rubber stamp has been delivered, Australia – and the Matildas – can look forward with absolute certainty.

A new World Cup cycle began the day after Spain beat England in last year’s final at Accor Stadium, but only now are we beginning to get some clarity on what it will look like beyond the Paris Olympics. We will get more on Friday, when FIFA decides at another meeting in Bangkok whether to anoint Brazil or the joint bid from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium as hosts of the 2027 Women’s World Cup; Brazil is said to be the unbackable favourite.

For the Matildas, this cycle will be one of transition. Lydia Williams has already flagged her retirement after Paris 2024, but other key players like Sam Kerr (30 years old), Katrina Gorry (31), Steph Catley (30), Mackenzie Arnold (30), Emily van Egmond (30), Tameka Yallop (32) and others will be weighing up how many more years they can commit to international football and the gruelling travel involved.

The Matildas will fight for a second major trophy in front of their home fans.Credit: AP

The carrot of another major tournament at home – one they should definitely be aiming to win – and being involved with another big moment for women’s football in Australia will absolutely influence their thinking.

There is unfinished business for many of them. Like the Socceroos, the Matildas have only tasted continental glory once before, in 2010. Some current players were involved in the 2014 and 2018 Women’s Asian Cups, where they were beaten in the final on both occasions, not to mention the disappointment of the 2022 edition, where their campaign ended in the quarter-finals.

There is no official word yet on exactly when the Women’s Asian Cup will be played, with stadium and training base inspections to occur in the coming months, but sources who were unauthorised to speak publicly say it is likely to be across late February and early March in 2026. That is only a season-and-a-half away, and that means decisions made today around their club careers will influence where players sit in the pecking order down the road.

And speaking of pecking orders, there is the small matter of the coach. Tony Gustavsson’s contract expires at the end of the Paris Olympics, and he has been non-committal – evasive, even – on the topic of his future, and whether he had any desire to stick around beyond that. We also don’t know if FA would want him. But again, the chance to have a second shot at winning something with this group of players on home soil could change things. Given the relatively short runway, perhaps continuity would not be such a bad thing. Those discussions would surely be taking place now, behind closed doors, with contingency plans being drawn up.

For FA, it gives chief executive James Johnson something tangible to use in ongoing arguments with government over the “urgent need for improved facilities” to address the massive surge in participation following the World Cup. For the sport, which always seems to be wrangling with an existential crisis of some form or another, it ensures there will be more good times ahead.

For the rest of us? It’s just another reason to get excited.

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