The 2026 Australian Championship will be the second edition of the Australian Championship, a national second-tier soccer competition for men, held after the finish of the 2026 National Premier Leagues Men's season. The tournament will consist of six home-and-away matches in four groups for teams in the group stage, culminating in a knockout finals series, running from 16 October and concluding on 12–13 December.

South Melbourne are the defending champions, after defeating Marconi Stallions in the final of the 2025 Australian Championship.

Teams

Sixteen clubs will participate in the competition. Eight clubs gained automatic qualification as the competition's Foundation clubs, while the other eight qualified via the 2026 National Premier Leagues Men's competitions, as premiers of their respective leagues. As the top three teams in the 2026 NPL NSW had already qualified as foundation clubs, the berth went to the league's fourth-placed team Sutherland Sharks instead.

Qualified as Team City Home ground Foundation clubs Avondale FC Melbourne Avenger Park 2,500 Marconi Stallions Sydney Marconi Stadium 9,000 Preston Lions Melbourne B.T. Connor Reserve 9,000 South Melbourne Melbourne Lakeside Stadium 12,000 Sydney Olympic Sydney Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre 5,000 Sydney United 58 Sydney Sydney United Sports Centre 12,000 Wests APIA Sydney Lambert Park 7,000 Wollongong Wolves Wollongong Macedonia Park, Berkeley 5,000 NPL SA Premiers Adelaide City Adelaide Adelaide City Park 5,000 NPL WA Premiers Bayswater City Perth Frank Drago Reserve 5,000 NPL Northern NSW Premiers Broadmeadow Magic Newcastle Magic Park 3,500 NPL Capital Football Premiers Canberra Croatia Canberra Deakin Stadium 1,500 NPL Queensland Premiers Lions FC Brisbane Lions Stadium 5,000 NPL Victoria Premiers Oakleigh Cannons Melbourne Jack Edwards Reserve 4,000 NPL Tasmania Premiers South Hobart Hobart D'Arcy Street 1,500 NPL NSW Fourth place Sutherland Sharks Sydney Seymour Shaw Park 5,000

Group stage The draw for the group stage occurred on 4 September 2026. Subsequently, Football Australia changed the format for the group stage games, where drawn games will proceed directly to a penalty shootout (without extra time), where the winner of the shootout receives two points, while the losing side receives a single point.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

See also 2026–27 A-League Men

Notes

References