The Matildas home game schedule for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 brought the Australian national women’s football team to three cities over three intense weeks, allowing the fans at home one of the longest stretches of home games ever played by the team. Australia hosted this tournament for the first time since 2006, with Asia’s top twelve teams coming to Perth, the Gold Coast, and Sydney from 1st to 21st March.
For Joe Montemurro’s side, it meant playing every single match of their campaign — group stage through to the final — on home soil, something few national teams ever get the chance to do at a major tournament. Below is a full breakdown of where and when the Matildas played, plus everything fans needed to know about watching from home and getting through the gates.
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Matildas AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Home Schedule: Full Dates, Times & Venues
The Australian team began their tournament with a match against the Philippines on Sunday 1st of March at the Perth Stadium at 5 pm local time (8 pm AEDT). This was followed by their second match on Thursday 5th of March against Iran at Gold Coast Stadium which was set to kick-off at 7 pm AEST. The last match for the team fell on a very important day – International Women’s Day on Sunday 8th of March against Korea Republic at the Stadium Australia.
The good form continued into the knockout rounds. Australia beat North Korea 2-1 in the quarter-final on Friday, 13 March, then edged past China 2-1 in the semi-final four days later, with the Foord-Kerr combination proving decisive in front of another big Sydney crowd. That set up a first Asian Cup final appearance in years, with the Matildas facing Japan at Stadium Australia on Saturday, 21 March. More than 74,000 fans packed the stands, though Japan ultimately claimed the title with a 1-0 win. Falling short of the trophy didn’t take away from what was still a genuinely historic run for the team.
How to Watch Matildas Home Matches: TV, Streaming & Free-to-Air Options
To those who were unable to watch any matches live or wanted to know how the coverage was organized, all Matildas’ matches could be watched for free on Network 10, while the games that collided with other TV programs could be found on 10 Drama. This is important to mention because it was impossible for fans to watch even a minute of the tournament without subscription.
Streaming-wise, Paramount+ carried the entire tournament, all 27 matches across all three groups, with Watch+ also available as an option for viewers wanting to stream on the go. It’s a broadcast setup that’s becoming fairly standard for major Football Australia events, pairing a mainstream free channel with a deeper streaming library for completists who want to follow every team in the draw, not just the Matildas.
Tickets & Host Cities: Where to See the Matildas on Home Soil (Perth, Gold Coast, Sydney)
Tickets for the tournament were sold through the official AFC Women’s Asian Cup website and Ticketmaster, with single-match and multi-game packages both available in the lead-up. Perth Stadium and Perth Rectangular Stadium (HBF Park) hosted the Western Australian leg, Gold Coast Stadium (Cbus Super Stadium) covered the Queensland fixtures, and Sydney carried the heaviest load, splitting matches between Western Sydney Stadium (CommBank Stadium) and the 79,500-capacity Stadium Australia.
Sydney’s Accor Stadium, otherwise called, managed to host the majority of the most important games – a game in the group stage featuring the Matildas, two quarter finals, one semi-final, and the final match. This distribution of games was understandable because of the size of this venue; however, it is also clear that the people in Perth and Gold Coast could have only witnessed games played in the group stage since Melbourne received no games because of the unwillingness of Victoria to host any.