- Arsenal and Australia women’s national team forward Caitlin Foord explains why it is important to win all their matches at the FIFA Women’s Series 2026.
- Australia are in Kenya for the mini-tournament set for April 11–15 at Nyayo National Stadium.
- They will be taking on Malawi on Saturday in the semifinals, before facing either India or Kenya in the final or third-place playoff on Wednesday, April 15.
Arsenal and Australia women’s national team forward Caitlin Foord has opened up on why her side should win all their matches in the FIFA Women’s Series 2026, set for Kenya from April 11-15 at the Nyayo National Stadium.
Caitlin and her fellow Matildas are in the country for the mini-tournament organized by FIFA, bringing together four nations from different continents who have never faced each other. It’s a chance for them to get a taste of one another’s style.
Here, they will be taking on three other formidable opponents, led by hosts Kenya’s Harambee Starlets, with India and Malawi also in the mix.
The CommBank Matildas will face Malawi in the first semifinal on Saturday, April 11, from 2pm EAT / 9pm AEST.
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Caitlin Foord explains why Australia must win every game at FIFA Women’s Series 2026
The Arsenal women’s forward believes these matches are very important, noting that playing African teams is always a challenge.
“I mean; these games are important. I think every World Cup we have been in, we’ve played an African team and it’s always a tough battle,” Caitlin stated on Thursday during a training session at the Police Sacco Grounds.
She added that it will be crucial to test themselves against African sides so that even in the upcoming World Cup, if they are drawn with an African opponent, they will really know what to do and expect in such a match.
“So I think to get these games in and to kind of get a step ahead, hopefully if we draw one of the African teams at the World Cup, we’ll know what to expect from playing these fixtures.”
The 31-year-old added that although the fixtures may seem like friendlies, there is still a title at stake, along with valuable ranking points.
Caitlin emphasized that they will push harder to improve their standings and secure better positioning ahead of the World Cup.
“We’ve got to keep our world rankings up to obviously put us in the best position to kind of get a good group going into the World Cup.”
Australia are ranked 15th globally, and they will be looking to improve that in this mini tournament.
How Australia is set to counter teams at the FIFA Women’s Series 2026
On facing their opponents, Caitlin believes the team will go all in. She explained that their main focus has been on expanding their style of play, particularly utilizing width and improving communication on the pitch.
“For us, it’s new challenges and you might end up with, you know, three players out wide, which you’re not used to, or player’s kind of running everywhere,” she added.
“So I think for us, our communication and our work off the ball is going to be important. But it’s just the communication key and sticking together and trying to hurt them when they do open up.”
After facing Malawi on Saturday, the winner of that match will take on the winner between India and Kenya, who face off on Saturday in the other semifinal. The winners meet in the final, while the losers will face off in the third-place playoff.
