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Key events
45 Mins: Another nicely constructed move springs the North Koreans down the right but the Matildas are just able to scramble the ball away… and then again… and again.
Kerr puts her body through an opponent to win the ball back in the midfield but she’s very isolated and can’t build on that.
We’ll have two minutes of added time.
44 Mins: The North Koreans get the ball down the left but the cross sent in the direction of Kim Kyong-Yong is a difficult one to reach and she can’t redirect it goalward.
43 Mins: The Koreans attempt to transition quickly but Gorry slides in with a momentum breaking challenge, one not enough to win the ball but enough to slow her opponents down long enough to allow her teammates to assume their defensive shape.
42 Mins: The Matildas get the ball forward, with Foord working ever-so-hard to keep the play alive on the left despite some sloppy passing. It doesn’t result in a shot, however, as the ball is marshalled to the waiting arms of Yu Son-Gum.
40 Mins: The tidal wave of North Korean possession is somewhat receding as the Matildas get more of a foot on the ball but that’s not leading to much actual cleanly-constructed attacking play from the Matildas.
38 Mins: A rare move forward by the Matildas ends quickly, Fowler’s searching pass looking for Gorry’s run into the box swallowed up by keeper Yu Son-Gum.
37 Mins: Replays show that the ball did hit the arm of Van Egmond but her limb was tucked well into her body. Never a penalty.
36 Mins: The North Koreans have a free kick on the right flank, continuing on their almost unending pressure across the opening 45 minutes.
Kim Song-Gyong sends it in and Chae Un-Yong tries to glance it on with a header. The Koreans appeal for a penalty but it’s waved away. No sign of a VAR review yet.
33 Mins: More North Korean pressure. And while it’s yet to result in a goal, they’re creating better chances. A short corner routine gets the ball to Kim Song-Gyong, who in turns drives a low ball to Chae Un-Yong. She swivels and shoots a wicked effort towards the near post but Arnold knocks it clear for a corner.
30 Mins: So there are two headlines from the first 30 minutes of this game.
The first is that Kennedy has got on the scoresheet once more and, as it stands, the Matildas are on the way to the semifinals of the Asian Cup.
The second is that the midfield of Kennedy, Van Egmond, and Gorry is being overrun by their ferociously pressing Korean counterparts, leading to constant questions being asked of an Australian defence that has been forced deep into their own half.
Of course, complete control of the game and no goals counts for nothing, so let’s see how the remaining hour of football plays out.
29 Mins: Torpey tries to break rapidly in transition but she’s hacked down by Chae Un-Yong as she does so, earning a free kick. The North Koreans, however, snuff out the chance in transition and will be able to get numbers behind the ball.
26 Mins: That was a really good chance for North Korea. An early cross in from Chae Un-Yong is met by Kim Kyong-Yong with a really good header, one that demands a really good save from Arnold as she gets down low and to her left to keep the ball out.
25 Mins: The Koreans continue to come forward in wave after wave, without yet producing a gilt-edged chance. Another shot comes in from Kim Kyong-Yong, but Arnold is once again able to save comfortably.
23 Mins: The North Korean press is giving the Australians all kinds of trouble across the opening stages of this game and the Matildas effectively ceded all control of the midfield amid frequent turnovers.
21 Mins: The North Koreans transition on Australia’s attempt to transition, with Kim Kyong-Yong sending in a dangerous cross that Torpey sends out for a corner. That short corner routing is cleared away but the visitors retain possession.
Chae Un-Yong sends in a deflected cross and… oh dear, Han Jin-Hong’s attempt to get on the end of it has seen her boot Hunt directly in the head.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like the Spurs defender will join the concussion worries as she gets straight back to her feet.
20 Mins: The North Koreans try to get in behind the Australian lines and, while that doesn’t succeed, they shift field position enough to win the ball back in a dangerous area with their counter-press.
The attack ends, however, when Myong Yu-Jong brings down Gorry – moments after Fowler was scythed down with no call.
16 Mins: Kerr gets cleaned up by Ri Myong-Gum but no whistle comes. The North Koreans then move the ball up the other end and win a corner, one swung in by Kim Song-Gyong but is headed clear by Heatley.
On the second-phase, Hong Song-Ok lashes a shot in from range that clears the mass of bodies in the box but which is got behind and saved by Arnold.
15 Mins: Kim Song-Gyong whips a free kick into the penalty are but it’s headed away by Torpey.
14 Mins: The ball bounces off Kerr’s feet but goes straight to Foord, who returns the ball to her skipper at the top of the box.
She tries to turn and advance into the penalty area but is sandwiched by multiple defenders. Half-hearted calls for a penalty but it was never there.
13 Mins: The Matildas, thanks to Kerr’s work, win a corner on the right.
Van Egmond whips in a slicing effort looking for the run of Fowler at the back post but it’s just out of the reach of Yu Son-Gum. If that goes beyond the keeper’s gloves, it’s 2-0.
12 Mins: A bit more energy is evident from the Matildas now, as well as a bit more confidence after the early goal. Worth watching how the North Koreans react to this, meanwhile, given the headloss we saw from them in the loss to China.
Goal! Australia 1-0 North Korea (Kennedy 9′)
lolAlannaKennedyscoresagain.
A goal arrives for the Matildas against the run of play and while Kennedy will get the headlines, it’s created by Kerr’s competitiveness and agrro.
The Aussie skipper comes upon An Kuk-Hyang like a librarian, bundling her off the ball, seizing upon it, and then carrying it inside.
She cuts the ball back in the Van Egmond direction and while she can’t get a shot away, the late arriving Kennedy can. She nets her fifth goal of the tournament and Australia leads.
7 Mins: Kerr applies some high pressure and forces an error that earns her side a throw-in. It eventually leads to an extended period of possession as the Matildas retreat and knock the ball around the backline but the press eventually arrives and forces the play to become disjointed once more.
5 Mins: Some more really short and sharp passing from the North Koreans eventually sees Chae Un-Yong lift a high, swerving cross into the box. It falls onto the head of Kim Kyong-Yong but her header is wayward. Early warning signs for the Australians – North Korea is on top early.
4 Mins: Katrina Gorry lays a crunching challenge on Han Jin-Hong on the left, sending the ball out for a throw-in and temporarily sending the winger to the turf in pain.
3 Mins: Foord picks up the ball in the middle of the park and tries to loft a ball over the defence and into the path of Kerr but it’s headed away before it land in front of the striker’s stride.
2 Mins: The Matildas have been able to grab a few early touches but for the most part the Koreans are monopolising the ball in these opening minutes, with plenty of short, sharp passing in tight areas.
1 Min: The North Koreans have the kick-off and come under an early press from the Matildas but they show really good technical ability to hold onto the ball and play through the pressure. Early indications that the hosts are in for a fresh challenge tonight.
Kick-off
We are underway at Perth Oval!
Let’s check in on how some of the Tillies’ faithful are handling things.
Keeping calm, I see.
The national anthems have been sung. Kick-off is imminent.
Before kickoff, let’s check in on Emily Van Egmond’s father, Gary, who is currently serving as caretaker coach of Western Sydney Wanderers’ A-League Men team.
Huh. Didn’t know he had it in him.
Players are making their way out onto the pitch.
Oh boy, there’s a lot of empty seats spread out around the ground. It’s a 6pm on a Friday evening – with not a lot of notice for punters that the Tillies were playing – but it’s still a sharp, sharp diversion from what we’re used to.
Omg is this an actual North Korean FA account on Twitter? Or is someone just larping?
The A-League Women paused during the international break but has resumed play this evening, albeit with only three domestic-based players in the squad – Melbourne City’s Holly McNamara, Canberra United’s Michelle Heyman, and Brisbane Roar’s Chloe Lincoln – this won’t be as disruptive as it could have been.
There’s one game of the Dub taking place tonight, the Newcastle Jets hosting Adelaide United and seemingly set to take out all three points.
Looking at the Matildas’ XI one of the biggest early questions they’re going to need to answer is if they can keep up and go physically with the North Koreans.
Kennedy and Van Egmond aren’t exactly the most fleet-of-foot midfielders to be deploying in a game at the best of times, let alone against a side that counter presses as high and aggressively as the North Koreans do.
Add to that Ri’s side are capable of running all day – the did a jog, in formation, this morning ahead of the game – and the Matildas are in for a hell of a physical challenge.
The Geordies clearly don’t have time for the official DPR Korea naming convention that most of the official accounts are rolling with for this tournament.
16 years ago, back before the Matildas experienced their explosion in popularity, they defeated North Korea in the final of the 2010 Asian Cup – the one and only time the side has lifted the trophy.
Plenty of things have changed since then but one thing has remained the same: Sam Kerr part of the squad that day and leading the line tonight.
North Korea XI
For the first time this tournament coach Ri has made a change to his starting XI, with 16 Song Chin-sim coming in at left-back in place of Yu-Yong Hwang.
Keep an eye on Choe Il-Son on the bench – the 19-year-old a member of the side that won both the U17 and U20 World Cup for North Korea.
We know that a handful of the Iranian team has remained in Australia on temporary protection visas, albeit that has been made more complicated too, given one of that cohort has reportedly now requested to return to Iran.
The players that do stay, however, have been inundated with offers of support from across Australian football, with Brisbane Roar first to offer their support.
Offering support, however, and providing meaningful and careful comfort are not always the same thing, however. So how does Australian football do both?
Well, in 2022, Melbourne Victory partnered with Professional Footballers Australia to support the Afghan Women’s Team in Australia after they fled the Taliban, helping them to remain together in the Victorian state leagues.
Legendary A-League Women coach Jeff Hopkins guided the team that season – and one only needed to see how the players interacted with the Welshman to see the trust he built with them – so I asked him today what needs to be remembered when supporting the Iranian players.
In the first place, I think it’s giving them support as young women, rather than footballers. It’s giving them a safe, comfortable place where they can come. That was the main thing that we tried to do with the Afghan women’s team, we gave them somewhere that they could come together, where they could feel safe, feel like they could play and they could and they could practice. And kind of move things on from there. That’s the number one thing. You treat them like young women, and then maybe football is second and and kind of move on from there.
Much of the coverage of the Women’s Asian Cup across the past few days has focused not on any of the competing teams but, instead, on Iran, as their time in Australia came to an end following their elimination.
Shiva Mokri and Moones Mansoubi, two members of Hamava Collective, a volunteer group of Iranian Australian women in Sydney advocating for gender equality, women’s rights and family wellbeing, have penned this, which you should read.
You’re going to have to wait for me to figure out the best way to share North Korea’s XI. They don’t exactly have an official Instagram account for me to grab a graphic from…
Standing across from the Matildas in the red corner are North Korea, playing in their first Asian Cup since 2010 and keen to re-assert themselves as one of Asia’s most dominant sides.
As long as their international exile has been, however, to describe Ri Song-ho’s side as ‘mysterious’ is getting a bit hackneyed at this point, especially given that we’ve had three games to watch them and, for the most part, they’ve played some tidy, high-tempo, aggressively pressing stuff.
Further, the North Koreans come into this tournament as the reigning U17 Asian Cup, U17 World Cup, U20 Asian Cup, and U20 World Cup champions, so we know that not only have they not been resting on their laurels during their time away from the international spotlight, they’ve been producing some pretty handy talent.
Of course… as we saw from whatever the hell that interminable delay following China’s second goal in their 2-1 defeat on the final day of group play, a game which set up their date with the Matildas, they’re also very capable of sillybuggers.
🎙️ “It’s really disappointing to see that this is still a tactic being deployed by DPR Korea”
Ash Sykes sounds off on the drama heading into the half, after refusing to take the field after China’s go-ahead goal in stoppage time
Watch #PRKvCHN live on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/cBKyuzxQzl
— Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) March 9, 2026
Matildas XI
The Matildas’ XI is in and, as forecast, Torpey comes into the XI to replace the concussed Catley. Emily Van Egmond, meanwhile, starts from the off.
Mackenzie Arnold starts in goal behind a back-four of Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Wini Heatley, and Torpey. Alanna Kennedy, fresh off two goals against South Korea, starts as the holding midfielder, behind Katrina Gorry and Van Emgond, who levels Clare Polkinghorne as the most-capped Matilda in history with appearance 169.
Up top, Caitlin Foord, Sam Kerr, and Fowler lead the line.
If you haven’t heard, the Matildas have already been struck two significant injury blows ahead of tonight’s game in the form of Hayley Raso and Steph Catley, both of whom are out with concussion.
Also missing the South Korea draw with the malady, Raso was replaced in the starting XI by Mary Fowler for that clash and, in all likelihood, that will remain the case for this evening’s contest.
Catley, meanwhile, was subbed off for Courtney Nevin in that game. And while Nevin has long since established herself as a regular back-up in squads, she was responsible for giving away the penalty that saw Kim Shin-ji level proceedings from the spot, and then – perhaps gunshy after giving away the handball for the penalty – afforded Kang Chae-rim far too much space on the go-ahead goal.
The Malmö FF defender is still the most likely starter and, after having a chance to gather herself and get a few arms wrapped around her in camp, will be eager to make amends. However, we can’t discount the possibility of utility Kaitlyn Torpey being thrown onto the left side of the defence – which, combined with Ellie Carpenter on the other flank – would give Australia a very zoomy backline.
Preamble
Joey Lynch
Howdy all, and welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing, live coverage of the Women’s Asian Cup, continuing tonight with minute-by-minute updates on the Matildas quarter-final clash with North Korea.
While they may have been forced to come-from-behind to snatch a 3-3 draw with the nation that did the actual damage in their last hit out, tonight offer’s a chance at redemption for Australia’s women: this the stage in which they were bundled out of the last tournament by South Korea – breaking a run that had seen them reach at least the semi-final in every iteration of the competition since officially joining the AFC.
That unfortunate evening, of course, would have seen the Matildas fail to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup had they not been hosting and, four years on, a spot in the next Women’s World Cup, this one taking place in Brazil next year, is on the line in addition to a place in the final four.
The loser of tonight’s game doesn’t have their hopes completely dashed, though, as they’ll move on to a playoff on the Gold Coast with another chance at qualification. And even defeat in that game won’t end their dreams – instead sending them to a series of inter-confederation playoffs at the end of this year and the start of next year.
Nonetheless, it’ll be much easier for all involved, at least those of an Australian-bent, if Joe Montemurro’s side get the job done tonight.
Line-ups soon, with kick-off in Perth set for 6pm local/9pm AEDT
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