Overview
- The 12-team tournament runs from 1 to 21 March with matches in Perth, the Gold Coast and Sydney, culminating in a final at Stadium Australia.
- ABC will carry live radio of all Matildas fixtures plus every knockout game as the event’s exclusive audio partner.
- Twenty-eight WSL players are on international duty — 12 with Australia and 16 with Japan — which could rule them out of league matchdays 17 and 18 and squeeze turnarounds before UWCL quarter-finals on 24–25 March.
- Hosts Australia have included Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler in a 26-player squad, with Japan, defending champions China and a returning North Korea seen as major threats.
- The four semi-finalists qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup, losing quarter-finalists move into playoff routes, and Iran’s preparations are clouded by welfare concerns after two player withdrawals including Kousar Kamali.