Current Matildas stars including Mary Fowler, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Ellie Carpenter have all shone at previous editions of the tournament. This year, a team filled with talent from the Liberty A-League will represent Australia’s Under-20 Young Matildas.
A place at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia will be on offer for the four teams that successfully qualify from the group stage.
The Young Matildas will start their three-game group stage with Korea Republic on Sunday March 3, before matches against host-nation Uzbekistan on Wednesday March 6 and Chinese Taipei on Saturday March 9.
U20 Women's Asian Cup: Important Links
- AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Hub
- 2024 AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Fixtures
- Guide to the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup
- How to Watch the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup
Finish in the top two of the group and Australia will both qualify for the semi-finals and also book their ticket to the Under-20 World Cup in August and September.
A squad filled with rising stars of the Liberty A-League will carry Australia’s hopes, captained by Melbourne Victory defender Jessika Nash.
Young Matildas coach Leah Blayney took the team to the 2019 edition of the tournament in Thailand and also the 2022 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup. Blayney, 37, won 16 caps for the Matildas between 2003-2009 and played in the W-League for both Sydney FC and Canberra United. She is well known to fans of the Liberty A-League as a regular expert commentator on match coverage.
Current-day Canberra United goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln has been ever-present in the Liberty A-League since making her debut at age 17 in 2022, and is expected to be the first-choice goalkeeper for the Young Matildas at this tournament.
Other Canberra connections in the Young Matildas include defenders Sasha Grove and Tegan Bertolissio.
Melbourne City attacking midfielder Daniela Galic was called up for her first senior Matildas camp prior to this tournament, and will arrive in camp with fellow Melbourne City players Naomi Chinnama and Tijan McKenna.
Sydney FC contributes the largest number of players from one club to the squad, with sisters Jynaya and Indiana Dos Santos, Shay Hollman, Zara Kruger, Maddie Caspers and Tahlia Franco all selected.
Caspers, 16, has been in particularly good recent Liberty A-League form, recognised as the young player of the month for January.
Kahli Johnson (Western United), Peta Trimis (Central Coast Mariners) and Georgia Cassidy (Perth Glory) are their team’s sole representatives, while two Newcastle Jets have made the squad in Claudia Cicco and Lara Gooch.
Alexia Apostolakis and Gemma Ferris are the Western Sydney Wanderers connections in the team, while Alana Murphy accompanies captain Nash as Melbourne Victory’s representatives.
The opening game against Korea Republic presents a big challenge for the Young Matildas, given when the teams met in the 2019 third-place playoff the South Koreans won 9-1. The overall head-to-head is three wins to Korea Republic, one draw, and one Australia win, which was a 2-0 triumph at the 2017 tournament thanks to goals from Sydney FC star Princess Ibini and former Sky Blue Remy Siemsen.
The Young Matildas’ most recent matches, a two-game series away to China in December, ended with one win and one loss.
There is a recent form line to trace for Australia’s other opponents in the group, with Chinese Taipei having defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 in March of last year. Chinese Taipei also defeated Thailand 3-0 in qualifying rounds, meaning they will need to be respected.
Australia’s track record identifying senior Matildas through their junior national teams is exceptional, with seven of the 2019 Under-20 squad earning at least one senior cap, 11 from the 2017 squad and 10 from the 2015 squad.
There are high hopes for the futures of many in the class of 2024, but the short-term objective will be to ensure qualification for the Under-20 World Cup, and try to win the nation’s first-ever age-group international trophy in AFC competition.
