March 17, 2026
The 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup had now reached the semi-final stage as host nation Australia played China in Perth.
Tournament Update
These diaries had reported on one match in the Women’s Asian Cup so far, covering South Korea’s 3-0 victory over Iran, where nearly all of the mainstream media coverage focused on the Iranian team and coaches not signing the national anthem. The anthem was then sung and saluted in Iran’s two subsequent matches, although there was much speculation that this had been under duress from the Iranian authorities.
Following their exit from the competition, six Iranian players, Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, Mona Hamoudi and Mohaddeseh Zolfi, five of whom appeared against South Korea, plus a member of the admin staff, had accepted the offer from the Australian Government for visas to stay in the country. However, with suggestions that all had subsequently been subjected to pressure from the Iranian authorities over threats to their families, five of the refusniks changed their minds and flew back to Iran amid much concern over how they would be treated upon their return. This left just Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh remaining in Australia.
Group A saw South Korea and Australia finish level on 7 points but South Korea topped the group on goal difference after the two sides played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the final fixture. The home support for The Matildas had been superb, with 44,379 turning up in Perth, 22,398 in Gold Coast, and a fantastic 60,279 in Sydney for the game against South Korea. No other group game in the tournament had attracted more than 10,000.
In Group B, China won their three matches, with North Korea being runners-up. China came out 2-1 winners in the meeting between the two sides, after North Korea had a late equaliser disallowed by VAR for offside.
Group C saw Japan easily win all three of their matches, including an 11-0 victory over India, but there was a slight surprise when Taiwan beat Vietnam 1-0 to take second place. Vietnam were four places higher in the FIFA rankings.
The two best third placed qualifiers were Uzbekistan, who won their final game 4-0 over Bangladesh and Philippines, who beat Iran 2-0, both of whom had a better goal difference than Vietnam, who lost their final game 0-4 to Japan.
China were given an unexpected tough tie against Taiwan, and needed extra-time for Shao Ziqin and an own goal to give them a 2-0 victory.
The two other quarter-finals were one sided, with accusations that the two losers had prioritised the losers play-offs for the World Cup rather than trying to make the semi-finals. Uzbekistan lost 0-6 to South Korea and Philippines lost 0-7 to Japan.
South Korea and Japan were to meet in the other semi-final, but Uzbekistan were to play The Philippines and North Korea were to play against Taiwan with the winners qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with the two losers entering the Intercontinental play-offs.
Australia
Australia won the 2010 Women’s Asian Cup in China when they beat North Korea on penalties after a 1-1 draw, and had twice been runners-up, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2022 by South Korea.
Australia hosted the 2023 World Cup, but were eliminated in the semi-finals after a 1-3 defeat to England, and then lost 0-2 to Sweden to finish 4th which marked the highest-ever finish of any Australian soccer team in senior level.
The current Australian squad played all over the globe, with only three players with A-League Women clubs, which continued to be played during the tournament. Thirteen players were with sides in the English WSL, three in Sweden, two in the USA, Italy and Germany, and one in Canada. Of the players in England, three played for Arsenal and two for Chelsea.
The undoubted star of the side was Chelsea forward Sam Kerr, with 134 caps and was the record goal scorer with 71 goals for The Matildas. Kerr had sometimes been reported by careless elements of the mass media as being an indigenous Australian, but in reality, her mother was born in India.
Australia began their campaign with a 1-0 victory in Perth over The Philippines when Kerr scored from close range early in the first half, and then beat Iran 4-0 in The Gold Coast thanks to two goals from London City Lioness’ Alanna Kennedy, and Malmo’s Amy Sayer and Manchester City’s Mary Fowler. The 3-3 draw with South Korea saw two more goals from Kennedy including the 98th minute equaliser, plus another from Kerr.
Australia started the competition in 15th place in the FIFA rankings, but their failure to top the group ahead of 21st ranked South Korea meant they faced a tricky tie against 10th ranked North Korea, who had failed to top their group against 17th ranked China. This was probably not a quarter-final that the organisers had been wishing for, as an early elimination for the hosts would undoubtedly have major consequences on the profitability of the tournament. However, despite being outplayed for most of the game, the Matilda’s took advantage of two defensive mistakes to take a 2-0 lead through Kennedy and Kerr, and although North Korea pulled one back, they held on to claim a 2-1 victory.
China
China were the power-house in the Asia region and had won the tournament on 9 occasions, and were the defending champions after beating South Korea 3-2 in the 2022 final in India.
This strength had not really transferred at a global level, where China’s best performance in the Women’s World Cup was to be runners-up in 1999, losing to the USA in a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw, and coming fourth in 1995.
China were disappointing in the most recent World Cup held in Australia in 2023, where they lost to Denmark ( 0-1 ) and England ( 1-6 ), and a 1-0 victory over Haiti was not enough to progress from their group.
As defending champions, China were not required to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup.
China’s form in the build up to the tournament had been patchy, losing 0-3 to the USA, 0-8 to England and 2-3 to Scotland, although they had drawn with regional rivals South Korea ( 2-2 ) and Japan ( 0-0 ) in friendlies.
Five of the 26 player squad were with sides outside of China, although only one, forward Wu Chengshu at French side Dijon, started against Taiwan. Full-back Wang Ying and attacker Yuan Cong were with Australian side Western Sydney Wanderers, midfielder Wang Yanwen was also with Dijon, and defender Li Mengwen was playing in Scotland for Rangers.
Captain and defender Wu Haiyan ( 142 caps ) played for Wuhan Jiangda and midfielder Wang Shuang ( 130 caps ) was also playing for Wuhan. Midfielder Zhang Rui ( 154 caps ) was with Shangdong, keeper Peng Shimang ( 30 caps ) was with Guangdong and Shanghai midfielder Zhang Xin had 47 caps.
Matchday Information
Australia’s first match in Perth had been played at the 60,000 Perth Stadium, but the quarter-final had been played at the smaller 19,500 capacity Perth Rectangular Stadium, which was home to Perth Glory and the Western Force Rugby Union side, and saw 16,466 attending. The semi-final was also originally slated to be played at the Perth Rectangular Stadium, but with the host nation playing, the game was moved to the Perth Stadium.
The weather at the 18.00 local time kick-off ( 10.00 UK ) was sunny and the temperature was 30 degrees.
Tickets for the game ranged between 30-130 AUD ( £16 to £69 )
Bet365, who were streaming the game live, made Australia 4/6 favourites, with China at 16/5 and the draw at 13/5. The match was also streamed on the AFC Asian Cup YouTube Channel with an English commentary.
Australia made one change, with Kyra Cooney-Cross replacing Emily van Egmond. In contrast China made 5 changes, bringing in Zhang Chengxue, Yao Wei, Wang Aifang, Zhang Rui and Wurigumula with Li Mengwen, Wang Linlin, Wang Shuang, Qingtong Li and Wu Chengshu missing out.
Australia were in a kit of all black with lime green trimmings, whilst China were in all red. The referee was Supiree Testhomya from Thailand.
Match Report
China looked lively in the opening stages but Australia were the first to threaten, when in the fifth minute Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord delivered a precise cross from the left towards the far post but Fowler volleyed over from 6 yards.
Australia looked suspect against China’s high press as they tried to build from the back, but they managed to avoid any major clangers. Wurigumula saw a shot blocked by Kennedy and after a corner was half cleared to the edge of the penalty area, Chen’s shot went straight at keeper Mackenzie Arnold, who gathered at the second attempt.
The opening goal came shortly after when Fowler slid a pass to for Carpenter to run on to and pull across the goalmouth from the angle of the 6-yard box for Foord finish with a powerful drive into the left corner from close to the penalty spot. 1-0 with 16 minutes played.
China looked to quickly hit back and Wurigumula’s curling effort from the edge of the area was pushed away by the diving Arnold, but shortly after Tottenham’s Claire Hunt misjudged a bouncing ball and Zhang Linyan nipped in to run into the Australian area and hit the deck when trying to go around Arnold. I’m not sure how much contact there was and Zhang seemed to be already heading to the ground when her leg grazed the body of the Aussie keeper, but the penalty was awarded and Arnold received a yellow card. It all looked very soft.
However, Zhang made no mistake from the spot, sending Arnold the wrong way as the keeper dived to her right. 1-1 after 26 minutes.
The game remained even at the break with neither side making any impression.
China again started on the front foot, but it was Australia who grabbed the next goal. Foord played a through ball for Kerr to run onto, and although the Chelsea striker was forced wide as she rounded keeper Peng Shimeng she was able to produce an outstanding left footed finish from an acute angle, beating Yao Wei’s despairing effort to clear off the line. 2-1 with 58 minutes on the clock.
Although China dominated possession for the rest of the game, they were unable to generate any real clear chances, the closest being Chen Qiaozhu’s far post header from a corner going a yard or two wide, and in added on time Wang Aifang’s long range drive was deflected narrowly wide for a corner. However, The Matildas held onto their lead pretty comfortably to move into the final, where they would meet Japan in the Sydney Olympic Stadium.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUxhy5G2ZYg
Australia : Arnold – Carpenter, Catley, Hunt ( Heatley ), Torpey – Cooney-Cross ( Wheeler ), Kennedy ( Van Egmond ), Gorry ( Rule ) – Fowler ( Sayer ), Kerr, Foord
China : Shimeng – Zheng CX ( Wang L ), Wu H, Yo, Chen – Wang A, Wang Y ( Liu ), Zhang R ( Li ), Zhang L – Wurigumula ( Jun ), Shao
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