Australia beat China to reach Women’s Asian Cup final as Kerr nets winner

Sam Kerr nets the opener as Australia beat China 2-1 to reach the final of the 2026 Women’s AFC Asian Cup.Published On 17 Mar 2026‌Australia captain Sam Kerr ⁠sealed ⁠a 2-1 win over China with a stunning second-half goal ⁠to put the hosts into their ⁠fourth Women’s Asian Cup final.The Matildas will hunt a second trophy in the continental tournament and ‌a first since 2010 against Japan or South Korea, who play in the second semifinal in Sydney on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Iran negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup games from US to Mexicolist 2 of 4World Baseball Classic: Venezuela defeats Italy, sets up final against USlist 3 of 4AFC has received no notification from Iran on World Cup withdrawallist 4 of 4UCL: Real Madrid hoping to knock out Man City for a third straight yearend of listScoring in front of home-town fans ⁠for the third ⁠time in the event, Kerr struck the winner on 58 minutes, threading the ⁠needle from an acute angle to ⁠send the Perth ⁠Stadium crowd into delirium.Defending champions China had levelled the match with a Zhang ‌Linyan penalty in the 26th minute following an early strike ‌by ‌Caitlin Foord.The Chinese are the record winners of the tournament with nine titles to their name, while Australia’s best finish in recent years was tournament runners-up in 2018.All four semifinalists booked their spots in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, given their progress in this tournament.