Football Australia looks to host 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup

Football Australia has revealed its intention to launch a bid to host the Asian Football Confederation’s 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.

Also revealing that Australia will not seek to stage the men’s 2023 AFC Asian Cup, for which China has relinquished its hosting, the body says that its bid for the female tournament will be submitted later this year.

Football Australia launched an expression of interest (EOI) for the relocated men’s tournament on 1st July but having the evaluated bidding materials it has decided to let the 31st August deadline for submitting a formal bid lapse without an entry.

While it gave no reasons for pulling out, Football Australia Chief Executive James Johnson said in July a bid would be contingent on government support and the AFC being open to moving the tournament to a January-February time slot in 2024.

Last month, the AFC revealed that Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Uzbekistan had also expressed an interest in hosting the international women’s tournament in 2026.

Australia will next year be co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside New Zealand.    

Image: Matilda's star Sam Kerr at Sydney's CommBank Stadium. Credit: VenuesLive.