The National Youth Championships 2023 Girls' Tournament officially took over Wollongong on Monday as teams took to the fields at WIN Stadium and JJ Kelly Park. in ideal conditions and the pristine backdrop of Wollongong's beaches, players, officials and spectators gathered for the Opening Ceremony featuring Wollongong Lord Mayor, Gordon Bradbery and Football Australia's Head of Professional Football and Competitions, Natalie Lutz. Twenty-two teams from across Australia will compete in the Under 14 and Under 16 divisions this week, with the Invitational XI, an Indigenous team funded and managed by Football Australia, making their National Youth Championships debut.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/national-youth-championships-2023-girls-tournament-day-one-wrap

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AFC Media \\ Photo credit: AFC Media 1696734938,1696737231 The Japanese, who emerged champions for the fourth time in 2022, face Chinese Taipei next on Wednesday, with Australia to play the hosts on Monday in the three-team group.  Japan were simply unstoppable at the Taipei University Stadium with captain Arthur Oliveira starring with a hat-trick. Photo credit: AFC Media. Tomoki Yoshikawa opened the scoring for Japan in the ninth minute with Oliveira taking over after that. He netted his first from the penalty spot in the 13th minute before going on to complete his hat-trick in the 33rd and 35th minutes.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/futsalroos-suffer-defeat-champions-japan-afc-futsal-asian-cuptm-qualifier

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The 2023 National Para Football Championships came to a close for another year, with New South Wales defending their title in a thrilling game against the hosts, WA. Read the full wrap of the final day of action and see the award winners! VICTORIA 4 - 1 QUEENSLAND Victoria was victorious in the third-place playoff game, picking up a bronze medal at the 2023 National Para Football Championships. Joshua Beekes opened the scoring for the Victorian side, finding the opener with a shot from just inside the box.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/nsw-claims-2023-national-para-football-championships-title

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Football Australia would like to send its congratulations and best wishes to Subway Socceroos' midfielder, Tom Rogic, following the announcement of his retirement from professional football. Rogic accumulated 53 caps and scored 10 goals for Australia after debuting for the senior national team as a 19-year-old during an international friendly against Korea Republic in November 2012. Regarded as one of Australia's most technically gifted midfielders, Rogic was a part of the squads for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018™, AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019™ and FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017™.

http://footballaustralia.com.au/news/football-australia-congratulates-tom-rogic

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The friendlies – hosted at the prestigious Marbella Football Centre – will feature U-19 teams from Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland and The Netherlands. The Subway Young Socceroos are set to face France (12 October), The Netherlands (14 October) and Denmark (17 October) in what shapes as an important development opportunity some of Australia's most talented young players. The squad – comprising of 16 Australian-based players – will assemble in Marbella on 9 October to commence their preparations ahead of what will be a busy playing schedule.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/subway-young-socceroos-squad-named-marbella-week-football

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Taryn Heddo 1695554439,1695555491 Sienna Dale was the four-goal hero as the CommBank Junior Matildas have capped off their AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-0 victory over Bangladesh.  The win means that Australia has qualified in style for the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia 2024™, finishing top of Group B with nine out of nine points. Australia came out of the blocks firing and opened the scoring within the first two minutes. A cross from Madeline Caspers found Dale at the back post, who scored the only goal of the half with a deflected finish.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/sienna-dale-four-goal-hero-commbank-junior-matildas-defeat-bangladesh-4-0

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Australia has already booked their spot in the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia 2024™ after back-to-back victories in Group B games against the Philippines and hosts, Vietnam. The side will be looking to maintain their undefeated record in qualifying when they take on Bangladesh tonight (7pm AEST).  Tonight's game will be streamed via the Vietnam Football Federation YouTube  Channel. A live stream link will be provided closer to kick-off (2 hours before), however, if this live stream doesn't work please follow the below instructions.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/how-watch-australia-v-bangladesh-2024-afc-u-17-womens-asian-cup-round-2-qualifiers

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The Junior Matildas have qualified for the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia 2024™ after defeating Vietnam 2-1 in Hanoi. Australia started the game with the majority of possession and chances. However, it was Vietnam who scored first. After receiving the ball in transition, Vietnam's No9 Thanh Hieu rounded Junior Matildas goalkeeper Layla Adams and gave her side the lead midway through the first half. The youngsters continued to create chances and they soon paid off. Grace Kuilamu won a corner after a precise ball over the top from Indiana Dos Santos.

http://footballaustralia.com.au/news/junior-matildas-defeat-vietnam-2-1-afc-u-17-womens-asian-cup-2024-round-2-qualifiers

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The event is the second football World Cup to be hosted on Australian shores in 2023, being held in Sydney between Sunday 15th and Friday 20th October.  The Australian team are highly rated on the international stage having finished 4th at the third powerchair World Cup in Florida, USA in 2017.  Over 80 players from 15 clubs across six states and territories participate in competitive powerchair football in Australia. Over the last year eight national training camps have been overseen by Australian Head Coach Peter Turnbull and his staff.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/australian-poweroos-squad-announced-2023-fipfa-powerchair-football-world-cup

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Football Australia Media 1695018015,1695018248 Drawn in Group A alongside Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and IR Iran, the crucial Match Day 2 schedule will see Australia take on fellow FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ participant, the Philippines (3.00pm AWST / 6.00pm AEDT), followed by IR Iran and Chinese Taipei (6.00pm AWST / 9.00pm AEDT). The shift of the Sunday, 29 October 2023 matches from HBF Park to the 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium follows the exhaustion of allocated tickets for all three Group A match days at the FIFA Women's World Cup™ venue.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/strong-demand-moves-commbank-matildas-optus-stadium

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FIFA.com 1694701065,1694701361 Voting is now open on FIFA.com now open on FIFA.com for the eighth edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards™ Nominees shortlisted by a panel of experts for the FIFA Fan Award and men's and women's categories Alexia Putellas and Lionel Messi are the reigning holders of the top player prizes The Best FIFA Women's Player Nominees Aitana Bonmatí (Spain); Linda Caicedo (Colombia); Rachel Daly (England); Kadidiatou Diani(France); Caitlin Foord (Australia); Mary Fowler (Australia); Alex Greenwood (England); Jennifer Hermoso (Spain); Lindsey Horan (USA); Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden); Lauren James(England); Sam Kerr (Australia); Mapi León (Spain); Hinata Miyazawa (Japan); Salma Paralluelo (Spain); Keira Walsh (England).

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/arnold-foord-fowler-gustavsson-kerr-postecoglou-among-nominees-best-fifa-football-awardstm

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AFC Media 1694664326,1694665916 A total of 35 referees and 39 assistant referees – including two standby nominees for each position – from 18 Member Associations have been selected based on their game management skills and competence, technical knowledge, physical fitness as well as performances delivered at the highest levels of both Continental and global football in recent years. For the first time-ever, women match officials are poised to make their debut at Asia's most prestigious men's national team competition, with Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita – one of six women officials who were historically selected for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – leading the stellar ensemble of five female match officials appointed to Asia's crown jewel.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/afc-asian-cup-qatar-2023tm-record-74-match-officials-named-historic-debut-women-officials

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Australia's U-17 Women's National Team have been drawn in Group B with matches held from 16 – 24 September 2023 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Following extensive scouting across Australia and a successful tour of the Korea Republic in June, Dower has selected a squad that combines 15 experienced campaigners from the Round 1 Qualifying with eight fresh faces set to make their international debuts.  Head Coach Rae Dower stated that the selected squad was inspired and primed to battle for a place at next year's AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/dower-names-final-commbank-junior-matildas-squad-round-2-qualifiers

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Football Australia Media 1693979229,1693981756 Football Australia Chair, Chris Nikou, today advised the Board and Congress Members of his decision to step down from the Chair position of Football Australia following this November's Annual General Meeting (AGM). Having initially joined the Football Australia Board in October 2014, Nikou became its Chair in November 2018. Nikou will not seek re-election as Chair at the upcoming AGM to be held on 22 November 2023. In the meantime, Nikou will continue in his role as Chair until the conclusion of the AGM, which he will also chair.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/chris-nikou-step-down-chair

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Football Australia Media // Photo Credit: CocoFoto 1693909675,1693909779 Head Coach Tony Vidmar named his 23-player squad for the two Group I matches in Dushanbe  against Laos on Thursday, 7 September at 1:30am AEST and then against hosts Tajikistan on Wednesday, 13 September at 1:30am AEST. To qualify for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 TM , Australia will need to finish as group winner or be one of the four best second placed teams among all eleven groups.   If the Subway Olyroos are successful in qualifying for next year's AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 TM , the tournament will also double as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they need to finish in the top three to automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics as the AFC representatives, while the fourth-best team will play an AFC-CAF play-off match for the final qualification spot.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/how-watch-subway-olyroos-afc-u23-asian-cup-qatar-2024-qualifiers

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Football Australia Media 1693782040,1693785262 Claiming their spot in the final eight are three Member Federation clubs and five Isuzu UTE A-League Men teams, where at least one Member Federation side will reach the semi-finals after Melbourne Knights FC (Football VIC) drew fellow NPL Victoria outfit, Heidelberg United FC.  The announcement of the Australia Cup 2023 Quarter Finals' Match Schedule follows consultation between Football Australia and the eight clubs around fixturing and ground availability after the official draw took place on Wednesday, 30 August.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/match-schedule-confirmed-australia-cup-2023-quarter-finals

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The meeting with Mexico – currently ranked #12 in the FIFA World Rankings – follows the Subway Socceroos most recent match against reigning FIFA World Cup™ Champions, Argentina in Beijing.   Arnold's senior brigade of Mat Ryan (AZ Alkmaar), Aziz Behich (Melbourne City FC), Milos Degenek (FK Crvena zvezda), Mitchell Duke (Fagiano Okayama) Jackson Irvine (FC St Pauli) and Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City FC) will all make the trip to the United States in a squad which also features five uncapped players.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/subway-socceroos-squad-named-face-mexico

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Football Australia Media 1693455086,1693457996 On Saturday 19  August, prior to the CommBank Matildas playing Sweden in the third place play off, four teams represented by 40 female players between 14 and 16 years old played in the Beyond Greatness™ Community Football Tournament, organised by FIFA at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Two of these teams, Hurlstone Park Wanderers and Kissing Point FC, who achieved the Club Changer 1 Star status were rewarded with this experience for demonstrating their commitment to the development of Women & Girls Football at their club.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/club-changer-and-naidoc-cup-teams-compete-fifas-beyond-greatnesstm-community-football

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Football Australia Media 1693435321,1693435419 Following big wins to Isuzu UTE A-League Men sides Melbourne City FC and Brisbane Roar FC over the weekend, Western Sydney Wanderers FC joined them in the Quarter Finals with a resounding victory over Adelaide United FC at Marconi Stadium (Bossley Park) on Tuesday evening.  Sydney FC and Western United FC secured their place in the final eight of the 2023 edition of the competition, as they defeated National Premier League (NPL) opposition in APIA Leichhardt FC (Football NSW) and Gold Coast Knights FC (Football QLD) respectively.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/australia-cup-2023-quarter-final-draw-produces-fascinating-ties

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Head Coach Kelly Stirton has named a ten-player squad for the CommBank ParaMatildas upcoming international series with Japan.  As the build-up to the 2023 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships (Para Asian Cup) gathers momentum, Australia will travel to Osaka, Japan to take on their AFC counterparts in a three-match series scheduled for 2, 3 and 4 September 2023 at J-Green Sakai National Training Centre.  The series marks the CommBank ParaMatildas first internationals for the year as they continue preparations for the inaugural Women's Para Asian Cup to be held at the Home of the Matildas at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Victoria from 31 October – 12 November 2023.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/stirton-names-commbank-paramatildas-squad-historic-japan-invitational-tour

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Football Australia Media 1692919361,1692921646 The CommBank Matildas have created an epic movement for change. Records have been smashed. Fans packed stadiums, live sites and living rooms across Australia. Merchandise sales soared and women's football was the daily topic of conversation across every corner of Australia. Almost 64% of Australians tuned in to watch the semi-final against England on Saturday 19th August, making it the most watched TV program since the OzTAM audience measurement system started in 2001.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/a-new-game-plan-4-ways-grow-momentum-womens-sport

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AFC Media Release courtesy relay 1692913682,1692914026 Joint-record three-time champions Kuwait SC lead the cast of 36 teams who were divided into nine groups across the five AFC zones. The West Zone teams will start their campaign in Groups A, B and C, with the three group winners and best runners-up advancing to the Zonal semi-finals. Group A will see 2019 champions Al Ahed FC of Lebanon, Syria's Al Futuwa, Jabal Al Mukaber Club of Palestine and Oman's Al Nahda competing while Group B will be contested by Jordan's Al Wehdat, Kuwait SC, Al Kahrbaa SC of Iraq and Syria's Al Ittihad Al-Ahli of Aleppo.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/central-coast-mariners-and-macarthur-fc-learn-afc-cup-fate

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AFC Media Release courtesy relay // Football Australia 1692914693,1692915125 City qualified for Asia's premier club competition after clinching the minor premiership for a third successive season. Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan will kick off the defence of their AFC Champions League title in Group J. Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal SFC - who won the 2019 and 2021 titles and were runners-up last season - were drawn in Group D.  The draw saw the 40 teams divided into 10 groups - five each in the East and West Zones.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/melbourne-citys-afc-champions-league-opponents-revealed

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Liberty A-League Women standalone opening round on October 14-15 before the Isuzu UTE A-League Men kicks off on October 20-22 Liberty A-League Women Round One blockbuster matches in major stadiums Isuzu UTE A-League Men Round One to feature a Saturday night ‘Big Blue' derby between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory Liberty A-League Women Final Series expanded to six teams, with format to mirror men's  Alen Stajcic returns to Australian football after the FIFA Women's World Cup as Perth Glory Head Coach with a home game against Newcastle Jets 24 August, 2023: The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has announced the full fixtures for the Liberty A-League Women and Isuzu UTE A-League Men season 2023-24 as football fever consumes Australia and New Zealand.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/a-leagues-announces-full-fixtures-season-2023-24

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Football Australia Media 1692762530,1692766192 Toure will be replaced by Jahce Novello from Cosenza Calcio in Italy's Serie B, with the 19-year-old having previously been called into the Subway Olyroos '  set-up in March this year. Australia have been drawn into Group I and will face Laos and Tajikistan in a three-team group, following the recent withdrawal of the DPR Korea from qualification. Vidmar's squad will begin assembling in Dushanbe at the end of August to commence their preparations for group games scheduled for September 6 (Laos) and 12 (Tajikistan) at the Republican Central Stadium.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/subway-olyroos-squad-update-afc-u23-asian-cuptm-qatar-2024-qualifiers

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Australia Cup / Football Australia Media 1692771284,1692771348 Australia's largest annual knockout sporting competition is coming down to the pointy end with eight highly anticipated matches taking place in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria from August 26 to 30. A total of 775 clubs from across Australia competed in the Australia Cup 2023 Qualifying Rounds before the unpredictable Round of 32 concluded last week, resulting in some amazing scenes across local venues as underdogs shattered expectations and teams fought to keep their Australia Cup dreams alive.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/australia-cup-2023-round-16-kicks-week

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The route to glory at the AFC Cup™ 2023/24 will be laid out in the official draw for the Group Stage on Thursday, August 24, 2023 at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 2pm. The 19th edition of the AFC Cup™ – the first to adhere to an autumn-spring schedule – will feature 36 clubs from the five AFC Zones across nine groups and is set to take place between September 2023 and May 2024. Joint-record three-time champions Kuwait SC – the first Kuwaiti club to ever win an Asian title – have the opportunity to add to their triumphs from 2009, 2012 and 2013; Lebanon's first ever Asian club champion, Al Ahed FC, triumphed in 2019 and could be joined in the draw by 2010 winner Al Ittihad Al-Ahli of Aleppo of Syria, if the latter prevails in their Playoff (West).

http://footballaustralia.com.au/news/afc-cuptm-202324-contenders-set-group-stage-draw

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Football Australia Media 1692410400,1692410347 Inspired by the outstanding success of the FIFA Women's World Cup™, and the nation-uniting performances of the CommBank Matildas, Football Australia today expressed its appreciation towards the Federal Government's ground-breaking announcement of the Play Our Way program to fund the improvement of sporting facilities and equipment specifically for women in response to the extraordinary rise in female participation in community sport.  With an investment of $200 million, the Play our Way grants program will promote equal access, build more suitable facilities, and support grassroots initiatives to get women and girls to engage, stay, and participate in sport throughout their lives.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/football-australia-welcomes-federal-governments-200-million-commitment-female-sports

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The Government will deliver an $18 million grant program over the next three years for dedicated female sporting facilities and improvements that grow female participation. $10 million of the money will be quarantined for soccer, with Football South Australia agreeing to match the grants dollar for dollar through a range of funding sources including clubs, Football Australia, Local and Federal Government. All funding will be allocated through an independently assessed grants program managed by the Office of Recreation and Sport, with further details to be announced later this year.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/south-australia-receives-facilities-funding-generation-inspired-matildas

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Football Australia's Pro Diploma is a prestigious certification that reflects a coach's dedication, knowledge, and expertise in football, playing a crucial role in shaping the next generation of high-quality coaches from Australia. Let's explore what it takes to become one of the most qualified coaches in the country. The Peak of Coaching Qualifications: The Pro Diploma, also known as the Professional Diploma, is the pinnacle of coaching qualifications in Australian football. It stands tall at the summit of an extensive curriculum that includes the A, B, and C Diplomas, serving as steppingstones that guide coaches towards the Pro Diploma.

https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news/pro-diploma-creating-next-generation-coaches

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