The quarterfinals are set for the CommBank Emerging Matildas Championships after some exciting clashes and goal fests on the third day of tournament action at the Home of the Matildas on Sunday.
The championships have brought together more than 400 of the best players from across Australia as well as an invitational team from Vietnam. After an opening day of testing and workshops, the elite girls have given everything on the pitch across three days at the CommBank Matildas’ state of the art home facility at La Trobe University in Melbourne as they aim to catch the eye of Football Australia’s selectors and scouts and win a title for their teams.
Ian Crook, the Elite Programs Manager at Football Australia, made no bones about what is at stake for the hopeful youngsters.
“There's so many steps for the girls' journey here, but it's the first chance for them to really get used to playing in a real pressure situation with a lot of people here,” said Crook. “There’s a lot of expectation on them, but it sets them well for the future.
“I'm sure in five years' time, we'll be looking and going, ‘I first saw that particular girl at the Home of the Matildas all those years ago, and we've been part of her journey’. It's hugely important.”
Crook said the players were still in their formative years.
“Talent identification at this age is really difficult because they're going through a ton of different stuff, growing as a young adult, going into a young adult. We're just looking at talent, who's got good technical ability,” said Crook.
“Then you try to look for the little differences where you see, are they a good leader? How are they around the place? You can see other things. It's a whole package and hopefully you find that little hidden gem somewhere.
“The standard gets better each year and that's what we're looking for. It's about keeping driving that standard up, not just of the players, but referees, coaches.”
The U16s quarterfinals have some mouthwatering clashes, starting with a match between NSW Sky and NSW Navy, who were both in fine shooting form on Sunday.
Sky faced Tasmania first up and won 13-1 with Western Sydney Wanderers academy star Sophie Aungle scoring five goals and Holly Tweedale and Marli Cayless claiming hat-tricks. They played Tasmania again, winning 7-0, with Aungle getting two more to her tally, and finished top of their Group with four wins from four, scoring 23 goals for and just one against to stamp themselves as a tournament favourite.
NSW Navy suffered a tight 1-0 loss to Victoria Blue in their opening game but turned on the style to defeat Northern Territory 8-0 to secure passage from third spot in Group C, finishing ahead of Queensland White on goal difference.
Victoria Blue, second in Group C behind Capital Football, face Northern NSW, who were second in Group B behind an impressive Western Australia side.
The WA team won all four of their Group matches, including a 4-0 defeat of NSW Regional where Anya Durbin was on the mark twice. They will fancy their chances against a South Australian team that advanced to the final eight despite two losses to Queensland Maroon on Sunday.
The Maroons face a tough assignment against Capital Football, who wrapped up Group C on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Queensland White.
In the Under 15s, Vietnam missed out on quarterfinals by a single goal after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Queensland Maroon in a thrilling final match on Sunday evening.
In a physical and high intensity game, midfielder Thi Bao Tram Le equalised with late header, but it wasn’t enough to get the invitational side through.
Queensland celebrated at the final whistle, having clung on to an automatic quarterfinal berth. Vietnam narrowly missed advancing as a third place finisher by one goal, as Victoria White went through instead.
Vietnam’s appearance at the championships is part of Football Australia’s strategy to expose Aussie youngsters to Asian playing styles, with the idea that it was better to bring teams here to face multiple sides rather than send one side to Asia.
This initiative helps forge closer ties with Asian football, in what is Australia’s 20th year in the Confederation, and the football department has worked with FA’s international partnerships team to communicate with AFC nations to invite and secure appropriate opposition
“It’s critical we expose more Australian players to the Asian style of football - that’s the level our top young players need to compete against and beat if we’re going to keep moving the game forward internationally,” said Gary Moretti, Football Australia Head of National Teams.
“The discussions started about 18 months ago. Rather than taking one national team into Asia, we felt there would be additional benefit for our national teams and member federations in bringing Asian opposition here and creating more regular, meaningful exposure that they would face when representing Australia in the future.
“Football Australia’s investment has been critical in bringing this initiative to life, and just as importantly, it’s about building stronger regional connections and giving back to our Asian football neighbours.”
Former CommBank Matilda Gema Simon’s Charles Perkins XI got their first win in their last Group match in the 15s beating Capital Football 2-1 to overtake them in fourth spot in Group C.
Grace Brann scored late for Capital Football, but a superb late save from Lillian Skaines secured three points for the Charles Perkins XI in the final match of the day.
Earlier the Charles Perkins XI had been beaten 6-0 by Victoria Blue who advanced to a quarterfinal against Northern NSW on Monday. Evie Stosic, from the Football Victoria Academy and one of 10 Geelong players at the championships, scored four times.
NSW Sky face Victoria White, Queensland White play South Australia and NSW Navy face off against Queensland Maroon in the other U15 quarters.
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
CommBank Emerging Matildas Championships (Girls U15 & U16)
Dates: 9 – 15 April 2026
Location: Home of the Matildas, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria
HOW TO WATCH
KommunityTV is your destination for exclusive live streams of the 2026 CommBank Emerging Championships with News Corp full digital subscribers having exclusive access to watch the action.
Every match will be available to watch live and on demand. Live streams of all fields will be available for each day of the tournament, with replays posted at the end of each day.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
The Tournament Hub has all the competitions and results while the Tournament Guide features all the groups, fixtures and key information.
This article was originally published on football360.com.au
