CommBank Young Matilda Shelby McMahon said that she thrives on the pressure ahead of the team’s AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026™ final group stage game against Japan on Wednesday night.
The midfielder – who grew up in a non-footballing household – said that it was feeling those pressure moments that made her fall in love with the game.
“I started playing with a mate,” she recalled.
“He asked me, can you come down? The team needed an extra player. So, why not? It was local, and I just kept playing from then.
“I realised I belong at this level with the way it makes you feel. You get excited to play big games. Pressure moments make you love the game even more. That really gets you into it.”
The 17-year-old is one of the youngest players in the Young Matildas setup but has already made her mark at professional level for Melbourne City.
She joined the club as a 15-year-old and was scoring in the league within months. Last season, she scored in both the semi-final and the final of the AFC Women’s Champions League.
She said that fitting in at club level was all about showing that she belonged on the pitch.
“My teammates there are a lot older, and it's a very different group of people, but football brings you together,” she explained.
“It’s showing them that you're good enough to be there and that you can help the team and support the team and do the job and the role that you're asked. It really connects you. When you trust them, and they trust you, it all just falls into place after that.
“The roof at City is limitless. They push for so much that you always have to keep your standards high to be involved. Spots are limited, and you always want to be a part of the glory and the good feeling. Professionalism is a top priority there, and it shows, and you want to be a part of it.”
McMahon is currently in Thailand and is a key part of the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026™ squad. They have currently won two games from two, 5-0 wins against Chinese Taipei and India.
“It's always good playing in a tournament,” she said.
“You don't do them very often, but I think this group can go so far. It’s exciting to see and be a part of. We’ve got the whole world in front of us for this tournament.
“We built off our first performance and built into the India game, which was really positive step for us. You watch the other games, watch how the other teams compare to you and to each other, and we are in a really good spot to put our best foot forward. Whatever that looks like, the steps will keep going higher and higher.”
The team’s off-field connection is something that McMahon believes will help them on the field throughout the tournament.
“The bus trips, the meals… it's just good fun, lots of laughs,” she said, of the squad.
“Everyone understands the experience that we're in, and we always take the light moments as they come. It’s so fun hanging out with them.
“A big one for us is the trust that we have in each other. When you build a connection off the field, it all translates over. So we trust each other and we back each other. We support each other. The moments might go against us sometimes, but we can always bounce back, and we always understand each other and what we need and the support we need.
“So it just flows through. There's never a moment where we doubt each other. We just always back each other and just give it a crack. We do it for our teammates.”
Like many Australians, McMahon was keenly watching the senior CommBank Matildas at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026™ on home soil in March.
She said that the Young Matildas see themselves in the senior squad, and take inspiration from what they’ve achieved.
“We can see ourselves in them a bit,” she said.
“To see the way that they handled themselves, and how well they went, gives us a bit of fire. We think: yeah, we can do that. We see the people that we want to be, in the spots that we want to be in. We’re there too.”
AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup™ Thailand 2026
Japan v Australia
Date: Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Time: 4.00pm (Local)/ 7.00pm (AEST)
Venue: Nonthaburi Province Stadium, Nonthaburi
Watch: Channel 10
