Matildas to face South Korea in Asian Cup group stage

After the draw made on Tuesday night at Sydney's Town Hall, Australia will first face the Philippines before playing Iran.

Joe Montemurro's team will host the opener against the Philippines, coached by Melburnian Mark Torcaso, at Perth's Optus Stadium on March 1.

The Matildas will then take on Iran at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast on March 5, before facing South Korea at Sydney's Accor Stadium on March 8.

Montemurro's side at least avoid a group stage meeting with defending champions China, who were drawn in Group B.

China is also coached by an Australian in Ante Milicic.

World No.7 Japan, the highest-ranked team in the tournament, were drawn in Group C with Vietnam, India and Taiwan.

"In any tournament, the expectations were what they were," Montemurro said.

"I couldn't predict that I wanted this team or that team.

"Now it's a little bit clearer, the style of teams we're playing, and it's a little bit clearer on how we approach the build-up into it."

Looking to repeat their 2010 trophy run, the Matildas - ranked world No.15 - have just two international windows to find their feet under Montemurro before the Asian Cup.

Australia netted two wins, a draw and a loss against Slovenia and Panama in their first batch of friendlies under Montemurro.

The Matildas were lucky to escape with an error-riddled 3-0 win over world No.38 Slovenia, and followed it up with a 1-1 draw against them.

With a handful of players departing halfway through the window, Australia then slumped to a shock 1-0 loss to world No.56 Panama before pulling off a 3-2 comeback win in the second match.

Australia did not play China in the last Asian Cup in India, but suffered a shock 1-0 quarter-final loss to South Korea.

The Matildas have since defeated South Korea, claiming a clean sweep of their two-game friendly series in May without conceding a goal.

Still, Montemurro expects the heartache of their 2022 defeat still lingers for the players.

"Look, I think they've got that at the back of their mind," Montemurro said.

"They know what they need to do in terms of fixing what was not a positive tournament in India.

"We've got the advantage of being at home. We've got the crowd behind us."

The Matildas have already met the Philippines in Perth, thrashing Torcaso's side 8-0 in October, 2023.

"That was probably one of the third or fourth games of us being in charge as a staff," Torcaso said.

"We got thrown straight into it and we got Australia in front of 60,000 at Optus, so we've got a lot to come back to and fix from that last game.

"We've definitely improved since then, so for us, it will be just going there and making sure we focus on us and do the best that we can and represent our country with pride."

Australia are one of 12 teams split across three groups to have qualified for next year's tournament, which will run until the final at Accor Stadium on March 21.

The top two teams in each of the groups, joined by the two best third-placed sides, will advance to the knockout stages.

DRAW FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S ASIAN CUP:

Group A - Australia, South Korea, Iran, Philippines

Group B - North Korea, China, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan

Group C - Japan, Vietnam, India, Taiwan

Australian Associated Press