SYDNEY (Kashmir English): Iran’s women football team has secured a place in the next year’s AFC women’s Asian Cup tournament to be held from 1–21 March at five venues in three host cities in Australia.
The 2026 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Women’s Asian Cup will be the 21st edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament in Asia, to be played at Perth, Gold Coast and Sydney.
The women’s national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (from 1 confederation) would compete for the 2026 title in Australia.
Iran beat Jordan 2-1 to reserve the berth in the tournament as Marziyeh Jafari’s side defied the odds with victory in Amman on Saturday.
With victory against Jordan, Iran will be at the event in Perth, Gold Coast and Sydney from March 1-21.
With Iran qualifying for the event, the cast now set for the 2026 tournament. Joining Iran through the qualifiers was India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, the Philippines and North Korea.
Defending champions China, Asian tigers Japan and South Korea, along with the host nation have qualified automatically. China are the defending champions.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 — the final 12 teams are locked in,” said chief of the local organising committee, Sarah Walsh on Sunday.
“There’s a real energy building, not just here in Australia but across Asia, and this diverse, high-quality line-up shows just how far women’s football has come.” The tournament draw will take place in Sydney on July 29.
Five venues have been selected in three Australia cities for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup tournament.
AFC Women’s Football Committee
Australia was officially selected as the host nation by the AFC Women’s Football Committee on 15 May 2024.
The tournament will serve as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
This will be the last time the qualifications will be linked, as a standalone qualifier for the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held starting from the 2031 edition onwards.
For the first time, the tournament will also serve as the penultimate stage of Asian qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with all eight quarter-finalists qualifying for the 2028 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
