Football at the 2026 Asian Games
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| Football at the 2026 Asian Games | |
|---|---|
 Pictogram for Football | |
| Event details | |
| Games | 2026 Asian Games |
| Host country | Japan |
| Dates | 14 September – 3 October 2026 |
| Venues | 7 (in 6 host cities) |
| Competitors | TBA from TBA nations |
| Men's tournament | |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Women's tournament | |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Editions | |
← 2022 2030 → | |
| Football at the 2026 Asian Games | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Tournament | ||
| men | women | |
| Squads | ||
| men | women | |
The football tournament at the 2026 Asian Games will be held in Nagoya, Toyota, Kariya, Gifu, Fukuroi and Osaka from 14 September to 3 October 2026.[1]
South Korea are the men's defending champions. Japan are the women's defending champions.
All times are local Japan Standard Time (UTC+9).[2]
| G | Group stage | 1⁄4 | Quarter-finals | 1⁄2 | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
Date Event | Mon 14 | Tue 15 | Wed 16 | Thu 17 | Fri 18 | Sat 19 | Sun 20 | Mon 21 | Tue 22 | Wed 23 | Thu 24 | Fri 25 | Sat 26 | Sun 27 | Mon 28 | Tue 29 | Wed 30 | Thu 1 | Fri 2 | Sat 3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | G | G | G | G | 1⁄4 | 1⁄2 | B | F | ||||||||||||||
| Women | G | G | G | 1⁄4 | 1⁄2 | B | F | |||||||||||||||
Venues
A total of seven venues around six cities were used.[1]
Eleven venues were chosen for the bid after Nagoya was selected, including Toyota, Nagoya, Kariya, Oita, Utsunomiya, Yokohama, Hiroshima, Suita, Saitama, Chiba and Chōfu. Those venues where shortlisted to Toyota, Nagoya, Kariya, Gifu, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, then later excluded Kyoto and Kobe on 30 April 2025. Notably, none of the stadiums used in the 2020 Olympics and 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup will be used in this tournament, and the Shizuoka Stadium with Nagai Stadium are the only stadiums in this tournament that were used in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
On 12 February 2026, it was confirmed that the Toyota Stadium will host the men's finals, while Shizuoka Stadium will host the women's finals.[citation needed]
| Fukuroi | Osaka | Toyota | Gifu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shizuoka Stadium (women's only) |
Nagai Stadium (men's and women's) |
Toyota Stadium (men's only) |
Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium (women's only) |
| Capacity: 50,889 | Capacity: 47,853 | Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 26,109 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Nagoya | |||
| Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium (men's only) | |||
| Capacity: 11,900 | |||
 | |||
| Nagoya | |||
| CS Asset Minato Soccer Stadium (men's and women's) | |||
| Capacity: 6,700 | |||
 | |||
| Kariya | |||
| Wave Stadium Kariya (men's and women's) | |||
| Capacity: 2,602 | |||
 | |||
Qualification
In the previous editions, participating nations were free to enter teams in the football tournament of the Asian Games. For the 2026 Asian Games, a qualification criteria was set up with the 16 participating teams of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifying for the men's tournament, and the 12 teams of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying for the women's tournament.[3][4] However, it was later confirmed that there will be 16 teams in the women's tournament.[5] Due to Australia not being a member of the OCA, they are not eligible to participate in the tournament. On 12 March 2026, it was confirmed that Hong Kong would participate in both men's and women's tournament, filling in the spot that was held by non-participating Australia.[6][7]
| Nation | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
 Bangladesh |  | |
 China | | |
 Chinese Taipei | | |
 Hong Kong | | |
 India | | |
 Iran | | |
 Iraq | | |
 Japan | | |
 Jordan | | |
 Kyrgyzstan | | |
 Lebanon | | |
 North Korea | | |
 Philippines | | |
 Qatar | | |
 Saudi Arabia | | |
 South Korea | | |
 Syria | | |
 Thailand | | |
 United Arab Emirates | | |
 Uzbekistan | | |
 Vietnam | | |
| Total: 21 NOCs | 16/16 | 12/16 |
