When former Australia forward Sarah Walsh recalls their 2006 Women’s Asian Cup final defeat by China, she remembers a sea of red-clad Chinese fans outnumbering locals in a crowd of about 5,000 at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium.
Now chief operating officer of the 2026 event, Walsh is envisioning an 80,000 sell-out crowd for the title-decider at Sydney’s Stadium Australia in just over a year’s time.
“The Women’s Asian Cup historically hasn’t been a big drawcard on the international global football calendar. But we think it should be soon,” Walsh told Reuters.
“We think it should be much like the (women’s) Euros is in Europe. This tournament — and us setting the benchmark for that here in Australia — is really important to us.”
The 12-team continental showpiece will kick-off about two-and-half years after the country co-hosted the World Cup, a tournament that generated record crowds and viewership in Australia as the Matildas made the semi-finals.
The Asian Cup is a notch or two lower in prestige and profile but Football Australia jumped at the chance to host it, in part due to the massive popularity of the women’s national team.
The Matildas, having toiled in obscurity a decade ago, are now dubbed “Australia’s favourite team” and they generated an extraordinary run of 16 sell-out home matches up to December.
While FA can bank on big crowds for the home team’s matches and have scheduled their tournament-opener at the 60,000-seat Perth Stadium, games that do not involve the Matildas will be a tougher sell.
Walsh and her team will be working hard on engagement with Australia’s Asian communities in the host cities of Sydney, Perth and Gold Coast.
They have a narrow window to build momentum, however.
Australia aside, only defending champions China, Japan and South Korea are confirmed for 2026, with the tournament draw not set until after mid-year qualifiers decide the other eight nations taking part.
“We’re on a bit of a sprint to the Women’s Asian Cup now, but we’re already starting that engagement,” said Walsh.
“We know the football family and the Matildas hardcore will purchase tickets, but we want to make sure that we balance everything across the 27 matches.”
With the government contributing a A$15 million ($9.32 million) grant, Walsh’s goal is for a tournament that breaks even, if not produces a windfall.
‘WORLD GAME’
On the pitch, the current form of the Matildas is a concern for fans after they suffered three straight defeats at the invitational SheBelieves Cup in the United States, including a 4-0 loss to Japan.
Local organisers would love the Matildas to turn things around and clinch their second Asian championship 16 years after winning the title in China in 2010.
Walsh, though, says the tournament would be able to survive an early Matildas exit.
“Football is the world game,” she said. “There’s nothing more true in terms of our diversity of participation here, our diversity of fandom.”
Like the World Cup, the Asian Cup may highlight the gap between the haves and have-not’s of women’s soccer.
In 2023, the semi-finals were locked down by well-resourced teams, while those from emerging nations crashed out amid complaints of funding shortfalls and unpaid wages.
Afghanistan do not even have a team competing in the qualifiers, with women’s sport crushed by the Taliban government.
Afghan women players in Australia have called on governing bodies FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to recognise the exiled footballers as a national team and let them compete.
“It’s a question for the AFC,” Walsh said. “I really do feel for them, the team that are currently situated in Australia. There’s obviously (Afghan) players in Europe and I hope there is an outcome for them that is good.”
–Reuters
