All about the Women’s Asian Cup

All about the Women’s Asian Cup

Excitement is building for the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia which kicks off on 1 March. It’s a major football tournament that will see the Matildas on the big stage again after their incredible World Cup run from 2023. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll get you across:

• How the Asian Cup differs from the World Cup

• Who the Tillies are up against

• And what their chances are for taking out the tournament…

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Squiz the Shortcut

Take me through the Matildas’ last big moment on the world stage…
It’ll be a long time before Aussies forget the Tillies' run to the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup in 2023, when they beat France in a nailbiting penalty shoot-out in the quarterfinals. To remind you, this video shows an AFL commentary team essentially breaking out of their call and celebrating in the box when the Tillies won. It was remarkable… 

Has support for them continued?
Yep… They remain one of the most-watched and most-followed national teams in the country, selling out stadiums in Oz for friendly matches - aka one-off, non-tournament games against other countries - which would have been unthinkable not that long ago. And come March, they get another bite of the cherry, with the Asian Cup being hosted on their home turf. 

The Asian Cup is a lot smaller than the World Cup, no?
It is, and the format is different as well. So let’s explain how it works… But first up, a bit of history. Some people mightn’t know this, but in its current form, the Women’s Asian Cup is actually older than the Women’s World Cup. It’s been running since 1975, whereas the first World Cup was held in 1991. The first ever tournament was held in Hong Kong and it was won by New Zealand, which beat Thailand in the final. 

How often is the Women’s Asian Cup held?
It used to be held roughly every 2 or 3 years but it’s since settled into more of a 4-year cycle from 2010.

Have we hosted before?
Yep… Australia last hosted in 2006, and we lost in the final to China on penalties. But we got our revenge in 2010, when China hosted, and we won, beating North Korea in the final - again on penalties. That’s the only time the women’s Aussie team has won the whole shebang. 

How many teams will be in this tournament?
There will be 12 teams competing as opposed to the World Cup’s 32 - but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a walk in the park for the Tillies. There are plenty of good teams involved, with China being the team to beat. They’ve won it 9 times and they’re the defending champs. 

Got it… So how does it work?
The 12 teams are split into 3 groups of 4. The teams in each group will face off against each other, and the top 2 teams will go into the quarterfinals… You may have worked out that’s only 6 teams, so the 2 best third-placed teams will also go through. And there’s another big advantage in making it to the end of the comp…

Tell me more…
Teams that reach the semi-finals get automatic qualification to next year’s women’s World Cup in Brazil. But there are actually 6 World Cup spots up for grabs for Asian teams, meaning even the 4 losing quarterfinalists will go into a play-off for those final 2 spots, so there are huge stakes across the board. 

Do we know who’s in the groups yet?
Yep… Group C has Japan, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and India. Group B has North Korea, China, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh. And Group A - the one we’ll be watching closest - has Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and Iran. 

What’s new with the Tillies?
They’ve changed a few things up since the 2023 World Cup - firstly, they’ve got a new manager in Joe Montemurro. He used to manage Arsenal in the Women’s Super League in the UK, as well as Juventus and Lyon, all huge European clubs. And some of their star players - including Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler - are coming off the back of significant, serious ACL injuries. In fact, Mary Fowler only just returned to the pitch for Manchester City a few weeks ago, so you can expect her minutes to be heavily managed by the coach. Some of the faces you’ll be seeing will be different to those in the World Cup, too. 

Who will we know?
Most of the team’s stars from the World Cup are still there - Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord to name some. 

Where do the Tillies stand in the world rankings?
They’re the number 15 ranked team in the world, making them the highest ranked team in their group - South Korea are 21, the Philippines are 41 and Iran sit at 68, just ahead of India and Bangladesh at the bottom of the tournament rankings. Which is to say that Australia should - stress on should - easily make it into the quarterfinals, and would be odds-on to make it into the semi-finals. 

Then it’ll get harder…?
Much harder… It’s there that they’ll likely face teams like Japan, who’re the highest ranked team in the competition at 7, China, the reigning champs ranked 17, and North Korea, with a ranking of 9. 

Where can we see them play?
The cities in luck are Sydney, the Gold Coast and Perth - the Matildas will play one of each of their group stage matches in each city, including the opening game against the Philippines in Perth. They’ll then play their second game against Iran in the Gold Coast, and the third game against South Korea in Sydney. The quarterfinals will take place in Perth and Sydney, before the semi-finals are split between Perth and Sydney too. 

And where’s the final being held?
It’ll be played at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The tournament will finish up on 21 March - so fingers crossed that our girls are still involved. Go Tillies…

Onto our Recommendations

Listening: Thanks to Commbank Newsroom, we’ll be bringing you daily updates throughout the tournament on the Squiz Today podcast, so listen out for them - we’re really looking forward to it... 

Reading: This guide from the football website Four Four Two has a great rundown of all the teams in the tournament… 

Reading: There’s bound to be lots of talk about manager Joe Montemurro over the course of the tournament - so here’s a good profile piece from the ABC on him… 

Listening: And here’s the Squiz Shortcut we did on the Matildas back in 2023 after their fantastic World Cup run…

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