Optus Stadium to host Women’s Asian Cup opener

Perth’s Optus Stadium will host the opening match of football’s Women’s Asian Cup next year, with the final to take place at Accor Stadium.

The national team tournament will take place across five stadiums in Australia. Matches will also be held at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, HBF Park in Perth, and Cbus Super Stadium in Queensland.

The venues were officially announced in November, and the match schedule for the tournament has now been confirmed. Venues will not feature sponsor names for the event, meaning that Optus Stadium will be known as Perth Stadium and Accor Stadium will be referred to as Stadium Australia.

The tournament will take place from March 1-21, 2026 and will feature 12 teams. The opening match at Optus Stadium will feature host nation Australia.

Optus Stadium will also host one semi-final on March 17, with the other semi-final taking place at Accor Stadium the following day. Accor Stadium will also host Australia’s third and final group stage match and two quarter-finals, as well as the final.

HBF Park (also known as Perth Rectangular Stadium) will host six group stage matches and two quarter-finals. CommBank Stadium (Western Sydney Stadium) will host six group stage matches.

Cbus Super Stadium (Gold Coast Stadium) will host four group stage matches, including Australia’s second fixture. It will also stage a two-match play-off involving the four losing quarter-finalists, with the winners qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The match pairings and kickoff times for the Women’s Asian Cup will be confirmed following the draw, which will take place later this year after the conclusion of qualifiers. Four teams have already qualified: Australia, China, Korea Republic and Japan.

China is the defending Women’s Asian Cup champion after winning the 2022 tournament, which took place in India. Australia last hosted the tournament in 2006. Uzbekistan will be the first Central Asian country to host the event in 2029.

Accor Stadium also hosted the final of the Women’s World Cup between Spain and England in 2023. Last month, it was announced that the stadium would host the 2027 Rugby World Cup final.