On Sunday, March 8, Australia hosted South Korea for the top spot of their group stage in the ongoing AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 held in Sydney. Both teams lead to a six-goal thrilling match with the Koreans emerging as top seeds of Group A. South Korea had previously defeated Australia in the 2022 tournament. In the last 10th minute a goal from Steph Catley could have made the game but Australia wasting the time faced the counterattack by the Koreans.
South Korea’s Jeon Yu-gyeong found space down to the left side but she put a cross into the box. Meanwhile, Mun Eun-ju powered through Australia’s defence giving the team another score when facing goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold. South Korea equalised the score in the 53rd minute after Kim Shin-ji converted a score from the penalty side.
The hosts suffered when Australia’s superstar Sam Kerr fired in the first-half from the near post. Three minutes later substitute Kang Chae-rim fired across the goal. Australia levelled the score through Alanna Kennedy who scored in the 32nd minute of the game. Kennedy’s goal in the seventh minute of the stoppage time was late that gave South Korea the qualification in the knockout rounds.
With the loss, Australia will face either North Korea or China in the quarterfinals, while South Korea will remain in Sydney to play the best of third-placed finishers. Both South Korea and Australia are tied at 7 points in the Group A standings. Meanwhile, Philippines took third place with three points and Iran placed in No. 4 with zero points scored in the tournament resulting from three match defeats in the group-stage match.
