Australia women's national under-20 soccer team

The Australia women's national under-20 soccer team (later nicknamed Young Matildas) were established in the early 1990s.^[1] Initially they were organised as an under-19 team,^[2]: 16 which played a three-match series against New Zealand U19 in Australia in September 1991.^[3] Another U19 squad toured Netherlands in 1998.^[4] As a member of Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) the Young Matildas participated in the 2002 OFC Women's Under 19 Qualifying Tournament, held in Tonga from 23 April to 3 May. After winning their group matches against Tonga (hosts) 0–16 and Cook Islands (0–15) they defeated Samoa (13–0) in the semi-final and New Zealand (0–6) in the final. With that victory Australia U19 qualified for the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship (predecessor to U-20 Women's World Cup).^[2]: 16 That tournament was held in Canada in August–September,^[2]: 16 and the Young Matildas finished fifth. This is the highest finishing place in a FIFA sanctioned world-wide competition of any Australian women's national soccer team until the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, when the senior Matildas reached fourth.^[2]: 16

In April 2004 with Adrian Santrac coaching, the team won the 2004 OFC Women's Under 19 Qualifying Tournament, where they defeated Solomon Islands 13–0,^[5] and hosts Papua New Guinea 14–1,^[6] to proceed to the U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand in November.^[7] The Young Matildas were sent home after losing their quarterfinal 0–2 against United States.^[7][8]

Young Matildas became a U-20 team when FIFA changed the upper age limit for its top women's age-grade competition from 19 to 20 effective in 2006. Also during that year all Australian international soccer teams switched from OFC to Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[9] Alistair Edwards, as coach, took the team to the 2006 AFC U-19 Women's Championship in Malaysia in April,^[10] where they finished third by defeating Japan 3–2 in the third place play-off.^[11] Due to their performance, the Young Matildas qualified for the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship, held in Russia.^[12] At that tournament Australia U20 were eliminated in the group stage.^[13]

As the third-placed team for the 2006 tournament, the Young Matildas automatically qualified for 2007 AFC U-19 Women's Championship in Chongqing, China during October 2007.^[14] With their 1–0 loss against Japan and a 2–1 loss against North Korea, the Australians were eliminated at the group stage and did not qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.^[14] The Young Matildas did not qualify for any U-19/U-20 world cup until 2022 when Leah Blayney coached the Australian squad in Costa Rica, where they were eliminated in the group stage.^[15]

From 2013 to 2018, the Young Matildas represented their nation at successive AFF Women's Championships (later renamed ASEAN Women's Championships): a regional tournament for senior national teams in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). Australia U20's best performances were finishing runners-up in both 2013 and 2018.^[16][17] In the latter final, they lost 3–2 against three-time champion Thailand despite Mary Fowler's Player of the Match performance scoring both Australian goals - Fowler also won the Golden Boot for most goals (ten) in the tournament.^[17][18]

Blayney coached the squad, which qualified for the 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, held in Uzbekistan in March.^[19] The Young Matildas reached the finals, finishing third by defeating South Korea, 1–0.^[19][20] New coach Alex Epakis oversaw their three victories in the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers for Group C, held during August 2025 in Tajikistan.^[21] Young Matildas reached the related tournament, which is due in April 2026 in Thailand.^[21]

Former managers

• Mike Mulvey (fl. 2001)^[23]
• Adrian Santrac (fl. 2004)^[7]
• Alistair Edwards (2005–2006)^[24]
• Alen Stajcic (2007–2010)^[25]
• Jeff Hopkins (2011–2012)^[26]
• Spencer Prior (2012–2013)^[27]
• Ante Juric (2014–2015)^[28]
• Gary van Egmond (fl. 2016–2019)^[29][30]
• Leah Blayney (2019–2024)^[31]
• Kory Babington (2025, interim coach)^[32]
• Alex Epakis (2025–present)^[22]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2025

Australia  v  Vanuatu

19 February PacificAus Sports Four Nations Tournament	Australia	9–0	Vanuatu	Canberra
15:00 UTC+11	Saveska 13', 17' Kuilamu 30' Allan 34' Caspers 44' Breier 50' Lobo 63' Stanic-Floody 72', 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Viking Park

Australia  v  Solomon Islands

22 February PacificAus Sports Four Nations Tournament	Australia	12–0	Solomon Islands	Canberra
18:30 UTC+11	McMahon 9', 23' Trimis 27', 48', 65' Collins 40', 51', 69' Tallon-Henniker 54', 90+1' Lobo 73' Saveska 89'	Report		Stadium: Viking Park

Australia  v  Thailand U20

25 February PacificAus Sports Four Nations Tournament	Australia	5–2	Thailand U20	Canberra
18:30 UTC+11	Saveska 10', 27' (pen.), 77' ? 70' (o.g.) Tallon-Henniker 90+4'	Report	Casteen 19', 34'	Stadium: Deakin Stadium

Australia  v  Tajikistan

6 August AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers	Australia	14–0	Tajikistan	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
22:00 UTC+5	Halmarick 3', 7', 20', 42' Breier 22' Caspers 28' Ochildieva 31' (o.g.) Fuller 48' Prakash 50' (pen.), 72' Saveska 58', 82', 90+4' Luchtmeijer 89'	Report		Stadium: Pamir Stadium Referee: Dong Fangyu (China)

Palestine  v  Australia

8 August AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers	Palestine	0–3	Australia	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
19:00 UTC+5		Report	Trimis 8' Luchtmeijer 68' Lobo 80'	Stadium: Pamir Stadium Referee: Haruna Kanematsu (Japan)

Australia  v  Chinese Taipei

10 August AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers	Australia	3–0	Chinese Taipei	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
19:00 UTC+5	Lin Szu-ying 37' (o.g.) Halmarick 64', 76'	Report		Stadium: Pamir Stadium Referee: Dong Fangyu (China)

Australia  v  South Korea

28 November Friendly	Australia	1–0	South Korea	Canberra, Australia
	Halmarick 41'	Report (FA) Report (KFA)		Stadium: Australian Institute of Sport Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Australia  v  South Korea

30 November Friendly	Australia	4–1	South Korea	Canberra, Australia
	Prakash 27' Allan 61' Kuilamu 73' Galic 90+3'	Report (FA) Report (KFA)	Lee Hae-nae 41'	Stadium: Australian Institute of Sport Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

2026

Australia  v  Chinese Taipei

2 April AFC U-20 Asian Cup GS	Australia	v	Chinese Taipei	Pathum Thani, Thailand
16:00 UTC+7		Source		Stadium: Pathum Thani Stadium

India  v  Australia

5 April AFC U-20 Asian Cup GS	India	v	Australia	Pathum Thani, Thailand
16:00 UTC+7		Source		Stadium: Pathum Thani Stadium

Japan  v  Australia

8 April AFC U-20 Asian Cup GS	Japan	v	Australia	Bangkok, Thailand
16:00 UTC+7		Source		Stadium: Rajamangala Stadium

OFC Women's U-20 Qualifying Tournament

• Winners: 2002, 2004

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

• Third place: 2006, 2024

ASEAN Women's Championship

• Second place: 2013, 2018
• Third place: 2015

PacificAus Sports Four Nations Tournament

• Winners: 2025

• Soccer in Australia
• Australia women's national soccer team
• Australia women's national under-23 soccer team
• Australia women's national under-17 soccer team