With less than 30 days remaining until the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026™, CommBank Matildas midfielder Clare Wheeler said that the team would be gunning to lift the trophy for the first time since 2010.
Wheeler is expected to be a large part of the team’s midfield as they prepare to take on the Philippines, IR Iran, and Korea Republic in the group stage of the tournament.
She was speaking to media from England where she competes in the WSL with Everton.
“We’re going into this tournament to win,” she said.
“Being at home, by itself, lights the fire. The fact that we haven’t won it for several years lights the fire. Just the fact that we’re in this tournament, we want to come away with a result. That, in itself, is motivation for us as a group.
“We want to get the job done, and we’re all excited for March.”
She elaborated on the excitement of having the tournament at home.
“We're extremely lucky to be able to have had two home tournaments [including the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™]. In our playing careers, to have two is extraordinary, so we're very thankful,” she said.
“We’re excited because we really want to do well, we want to win in front of our family and friends. There’s definitely that excitement there. [The tournament is] just on the horizon, so it's building.
“Once we get towards the end and we're flying out, then I think it will be peak [excitement].”
Wheeler said that she will be looking for the faces of her family and fiancé as she looks into the crowd on match day.
“All the girls will have people that they're looking for as well,” she said.
“For a lot of us, we're so far away from family - it's not like they can just pop over for a weekend here in England. So being able to play a tournament in front of them means a lot to us.
“To share that experience with them, because they've been such key and crucial parts of our journey, it's something that we'll be able to treasure forever.”
Head Coach Joe Montemurro was appointed mid-last year, and it has been a relatively short runway for him to establish his style of football in the group. However, Wheeler said that they are going to be well prepared for the tournament.
“The biggest change that Joe's brought in is his demand for us to keep the ball and make the ball do the work, and keep the ball throughout the team. It's something that he demands us to improve and be better,” she said.
“With that, he's also brought in a lot of fluidity and how we move to keep the ball. And I think you definitely saw that against New Zealand. You saw the fluidity and how people moved around the park.
“Obviously, we’d love more time… at the same time, we have games here for me with Everton to play before I even get there. So it is a kind of a different lead-in than it would be for, say, a World Cup in the summer, where you have that pre-camp preparation.”
This tournament will be Wheeler’s second AFC Women’s Asian Cup after competing in the 2022 edition.
“It was my first tournament. I had my first start. It was my first time playing a lot of those teams at the national level. It was a lot of firsts,” she said.
“Coming into it now, I definitely feel more prepared in terms of having that exposure, playing overseas in a full-time professional league against some of these players. Some of these players are my teammates.
“There’s definitely some nerves, but I think for the most part I feel better prepared, and it's not as new and daunting as it was once before. That’s definitely a big difference between 2022 me and 2026 me.”
She said she was going to take every obstacle as it comes in pursuit of the trophy.
“The best and the worst thing [about football] is that you always have another game, probably next week. That means you can't ride your highs for too long, but also you can’t ride your lows for too long,” she explained.
“With the tournament being in the season, it's a bit different. It’s only a month away, it's a massive tournament, and it's at home. People are starting to think about it, but as a player, we all have games that we need to think about now, and I think it's just putting one foot in front of the other and tackling each obstacle as they come.
“Football’s hard. You can't really plan too far in advance. Obviously, you have dreams and desires, but those things change. The psychology of this tournament, for me, is just to focus on each obstacle as they come.”
AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™
CommBank Matildas v Philippines
Date: Sunday, 1 March 2026
Venue: Perth Stadium, Perth
Time: 5:00pm AWST/8:00pm AEDT
Buy Tickets
IR Iran v CommBank Matildas
Date: Thursday, 5 March 2026
Venue: Gold Coast Stadium, Gold Coast
Time: 7:00pm AEST/8:00pm AEDT
Buy Tickets
CommBank Matildas v Korea Republic
Date: Sunday, 8 March 2026
Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney
Time: 8:00pm AEDT
Buy Tickets