Melbourne City will kick-off their 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League campaign in Vietnam tonight.
Lat season’s runners-up start their quest for continental glory against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors in Group A action in Ho Cho Mihn City – the centralised location for Melbourne City’s three group-stage matches.
Ninja A-League premiers City head into the second edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League as the top seeds and in the midst of a 29-match unbeaten streak in the domestic competition’s regular season.
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City suffered a heart-breaking loss to China’s Wuhan Jiangda in the inaugural 2024-25 Champions League final.
Michael Matricciani’s side – led by superstar Holly McNamara and captain Rebekah Stott – return for the Champions League after claiming back-to-back Ninja A-League Premierships thanks to their invincible regular season which saw City go undefeated before the Finals Series.
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City – unbeaten with four points from two games so start the Ninja A-League 2025-26 season – have the chance to not only claim continental silverware in the AFC but a significant payday in Asia.
There’s huge financial incentive for City as the Ninja A-League’s representative in the 2025-26 Women’s Champions League campaign, with the winner set to take home at least USD 1.3 million (roughly AUD 1.95 million).
Team news
Melbourne City’s 23-player squad in Vietnam features every contracted player other than young goalkeeper Dali Gorr Burchmore.
Fixtures
Matchday 1
Melbourne City v Lion City Sailors (Singapore)
Thursday 13 November, 7:00pm (AEDT)
Thong Nhat Stadium
Matchday 2
Stallion Laguna FC (Philippines) v Melbourne City
Sunday 16 November, 7:00pm (AEDT)
Thong Nhat Stadium
Matchday 3
Melbourne City vs Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC (Vietnam)
Wednesday 19 November, 11:00pm (AEDT)
Thong Nhat Stadium
How to watch
All three group-stage fixtures to be streamed live and free on YouTube.
Format
The teams feature the AFC’s top six clubs from 2024-25, and six more via the preliminary stage, which consisted of a record 19 sides and concluded on August 31.
Group-stage fixtures in Myanmar will be staged between November 9-15, with City’s matches in Vietnam scheduled for November 13-19, while games in China will be played from November 17-23.
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Following the group stage, eight clubs – the top two finishers of each group and the two overall best third-placed clubs – will advance to the knockout phase, with the single-leg quarter-final pairings to be decided by a draw and played in March 2026.
The centralised semi-finals and final are scheduled for May 20 to 23, 2026.
Prize money
City have secured automatic qualification to the group stage, which is great news for the Ninja A-League side as each group-stage participant is set to receive an automatic prize of USD 100,000 (roughly AUD 150,000).
Should City reach the quarter-finals in 2025-26, an additional USD 80,000 (AUD 120,000) would go the way of the Australian club.
City would receive a further USD 120,000 (AUD 180,000) for reaching the semi-finals – and should the Ninja A-League outfit make the final but fall short, the runners-up would receive an additional USD 500,000 (AUD 750,000).
The winners would receive an additional USD 1 million (AUD 1.5 million), taking the winning club’s total winnings to USD 1.3 million (AUD 1.95 million).
