(photo credit: PWNFT FB)
The Philippine women's national football team, popularly known and referred to as Filipinas, is set to play the opening game of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 against the host country Australia! The Final Draw, which was a much-awaited event by football fans around the globe was undertaken in the iconic Sydney Town Hall.
The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney also witnessed the Draw, represented by Consul Sheila Marie C. Tario and Vice Consul Diana Marie D. Jimenez-Leomo. In their social media post, the Consulate expressed that "their presence reaffirmed the Consulate General’s commitment to supporting the Philippine women’s national team and to rally Filipinos in New South Wales behind the Filipinas".
|(Photo Credit : Philippine Consulate General Sydney - L: Vice Consul Jimenez-Leomo R: Consul Tario
The event was also attended by representatives of the football women’s teams and dignitaries of the countries that had qualified for the competition. Filipinas' head coach Mark Torcaso represented the Philippines at the WAC2026 final draw.(Football Coaches attending the Final Draw. Photo credit to Philippine Football Federation)
Aside from the main event held at Sydney Town Hall, a Watch Party was held on the Gold Coast and Perth. I am fortunate to have joined the Cultural Pulse Ambassadors group alongside Michelle Baltazar, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Filipina. Through this group, I was fortunate to have attended the Watch Party at the CommBank Stadium in Parramatta. Due to work commitments, Michelle wasn't able to attend and I was accompanied by my husband John.
Teams in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026
Twelve countries will be competing in the tournament. Based on their FIFA ranking, the teams were put in four pots.
| Pot 1 Australia (AUS) – host country Japan (JPN) DPR Korea (PRK) | Pot 2 China PR (CHN) Korea Republic (KOR) Vietnam (VIE) | Pot 3 Philippines (PHI) Chinese Taipei (TPE) Uzbekistan (UZB) | Pot 4 Islamic Republic of Iran (IRN) India (IND) Bangladesh (BAN) |
Mechanics of the Final Draw
The Final Draw event, which would have been watched by millions of football fans was undertaken at 7pm AEST was exciting. The mechanics involved the names of the countries as listed in the four pots being placed in a glass bowl. There were two steps involved. Firstly, the name of the country written on a ball-shaped strip was randomly picked and unfurled to show the name. Secondly, from another bowl, the position of the country was drawn.
Only Australia (AUS) was assigned its position, A1, in the group as it is the host country. After 20 years, this is the second time that Australia is hosting the AFC World Cup Tournament. Before the Final Draw, the matches and the locations had been selected. For example, on Day One of the tournament, AUS will play A4 in Perth; then Day Two A2 v A3 in Gold Coast, and so on. We were given a copy of the sheet showing these matches, with the positions within the grouping shown blank.
The draw sheet also showed the following five locations where the games will be played:
Perth Stadium (60,000)
Perth Rectangular Stadium (19,500)
Gold Coast Stadium (28,000)
Stadium Australia (79,500)
Western Sydney – Parramatta (30,000)
The draw sheet showed AUS in position A1, with A2, A3 and A4 to be selected in the draw. The countries also for Group B and Group C, and positions in the groups to be picked in the draw. We held our breath and cheered when the Philippines (PHI) was drawn from its pot bowl and then as luck would have it, PHI the number drawn was A4. So, PHI plays the opening game versus AUS, in the Perth Stadium.
The Final Draw
The process of drawing the name of the country first and then the position number drew cheering from the supporters of the various teams. This took one hour to complete and the results are as shown below.
My Fave Teams’ Group Stage Games Schedule
It is accepted and known that football fans would have their favourite teams to follow. Mine are PHI and AUS! Their group stage games, to be held during March 1 to March 10, are shown below.
Philippines (PHI)
March 1st - Perth Stadium v AUS
March 5th – Gold Coast Stadium v KOR
March 8th – Gold Coast Stadium v IRN
Australia (AUS)
March 1st – Perth Stadium v PHI
March 5th – Gold Coast Stadium v IRN
March 8th – Stadium Australia v KOR
The teams have a rest during March 11th – 12th. Then the Quarter Finals will be held on March 13th – 15th with a rest day on March 16th. This will be followed by the Semi-Finals on March 17th – 19th and a rest day on March 20th. The final game which is expected to be sold out event will be on March 21st to be held in Stadium Australia.
For more information and regular updates, check out the following:
AFC Women’s Cup Australia 2026
https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc_womens_asian_cup/home.html
Asian Confederation FB page https://www.facebook.com/theafcdotcom
Philippine Women’s Football National Team FB page https://www.facebook.com/PilipinasWNFT
Australia's National Women’s Football Team https://www.facebook.com/matildas
We are looking forward to watching a few games next year. In the meantime, we better save up for tickets!! We thoroughly enjoyed the Final Draw Watch Party at CommBank in Parramatta. It was such a treat and pleasure to have been in this world class stadiumm and be part of the excitement of the Final Draw. Congratulations to all involved in staging the Final Draw event and enjoyable Watch Parties.