Visa to sponsor 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup

Visa has announced its sponsorship of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, to be hosted in Australia.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) awarded Football Australia the hosting rights late last year, following the success of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Visa has a history of supporting women’s football, having been the first ever UEFA sponsor dedicated to women’s football, and the first global FIFA women’s football partner.

The new partnership complements the brand’s support for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games football tournament.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup will be played in five stadiums across the Gold Coast, Perth, and Sydney, featuring teams from 12 nations including Australia, China, Thailand, and South Korea. It is the second time Australia has hosted, having previously staged the tournament in 2006.

The semi-finalists from this tournament will directly qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup while quarterfinalists will advance to the qualifying rounds for the Olympics.

Visa has signed on to the tournament as the official global supporter. The brand is also already a major sponsor of the Matildas.

“Visa has been one of the first supporters of my sporting journey, and I can’t wait to see how we build on the momentum and energy from the FIFA Women’s World Cup back in 2023 for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup,” Ellie Carpenter, Matildas player and Visa brand ambassador, said in a release.

AFC’s general secretary, Datuk Seri Windsor John, said: “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 aims to be the greatest ever edition in the tournament’s history, and we look forward to working in close collaboration with Visa to realise our shared ambitions for the growth and empowerment of the women’s game across Asia.”

Asia Football Group (AFG) facilitated the sponsorship as the media and rights partner for the AFC. The group’s CEO, Patrick Murphy, said Visa have been an “exceptional partner”.

With the new deal, he said, “we’re taking our collaboration to the next level”.

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Lauren McNamara

Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.

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topics 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup AFC Women's Asian Cup sponsorship Visa Women's football women's sport

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