Key posts
Kerr named to start as Matildas field strong side
The Matildas are leaving nothing to chance with Kerr, Arnold and their other stars in a strong starting 11.
Latest posts
Australia will not bid to host 2034 World Cup with Saudi Arabia firm favourites
By Emma Kemp
Australia will not bid to host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup, with the writing on the wall that Saudi Arabia are effectively shoo-ins to host the tournament.
Instead, Football Australia will focus on obtaining hosting rights to the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and an expanded men’s 2029 Club World Cup.
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson has made clear Australia’s international hosting ambitions.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Tuesday marked the deadline for countries from the Asia and Oceania regions – the only two eligible confederations due to FIFA’s strategic manipulation of its rotation policy – to submit their intention to bid for 2034, either solo or together with other nations.
“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and, having taken all factors into consideration, we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” FA said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
Good evening
G’day everyone and welcome to this evening’s live blog as the Matildas complete their Olympic qualifying group games with a game against Chinese Taipei in Perth.
The Matildas will top their group which guarantees their passage to a final home and away qualifier for a spot at Paris 2024 but they will be chasing as many goals as they can score as they still don’t know how the match-ups will be decided for those last round of qualifiers.
The game kicks off at 10pm AEDT. Please enjoy the evening to come.
