Australian sporting calendar 2026—All the major events, key dates to mark in your diary

Peter Maniaty

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Australian sporting calendar 2026—All the major events, key dates to mark in your diary image

With the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup, Winter Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, 2026 promises to be another massive year for sport—with Australian teams and athletes well represented as always.

AllSportsPeople provides a summary of all the key dates and match-ups to mark in your 2026 diary. 

Bookmark this page so you don’t miss a moment of the action.

Cricket, Men’s Test Matches

  • England. Fifth Ashes Test. SCG. 4-8 January.
  • Bangladesh. 2 Tests (home series). Winter.
  • South Africa. 3 Tests (away series). September-October.
  • New Zealand. 4 Tests (home series). November-January.

Australian Open Tennis (Melbourne)

  • Opening Round Starts. Sunday 8 January. 
  • Women’s Singles Final. Saturday, 31 January.
  • Men’s Singles Final. Sunday, 1 February.

Tennis Majors

  • French Open. Sunday, 24 May to Sunday, 7 June.
  • Wimbledon. Monday, 29 June to Sunday, 12 July.
  • US Open. Sunday, 30 August to Sunday, 13 September.

Cricket, Men’s T20 World Cup (India & Sri Lanka)

  • Opening Match. Saturday, 7 February.
  • Final. Monday, 9 March.

Winter Olympics, Milano Cortina (Italy)

  • Opening Ceremony. Friday, 6 February.
  • Closing Ceremony. Sunday, 22 February.

Football, AFC Women’s Asian Cup (Australia)

  • Matildas Game 1. Philippines. Sunday, 1 March (Perth).
  • Matildas Game 2. IR Iran. Thursday, 5 March (Gold Coast).
  • Matildas Game 3. Korea Republic. Sunday, 8 March (Sydney).
  • Final. Saturday, 21 March (Sydney).

AFL

  • State of Origin. Western Australia vs. Victoria. Saturday, 14 February (Optus Stadium).
  • AFL Opening Match. Thursday, 5 March. Sydney vs. Carlton (SCG).
  • AFL Gather Round. Thursday, 9 April to Sunday, 12 April (South Australia).
  • AFL Grand Final. Saturday, 26 September (MCG).

NRL

  • World Club Challenge. Hull KR vs. Brisbane Broncos. 19 February (MKM Stadium).
  • NRL Opening Round, Las Vegas. Sunday, 1 March.
  • Magic Round. Thursday, 14 May to Sunday, 17 May (Suncorp Stadium).
  • State of Origin Game I. Wednesday, 27 May (Accor Stadium).
  • State of Origin Game II. Wednesday, 17 June (MCG).
  • State of Origin Game III. Wednesday, 8 July (Suncorp Stadium).
  • NRL Grand Final. Sunday, 4 October (Accor Stadium).

Golf

  • US Masters. Thursday, 9 April to Sunday 12 April (Augusta, Georgia).
  • US PGA. Thursday, 14 May 14 to Sunday, 17 May (Aronimink, Pennsylvania).
  • US Open. Thursday, 18 June to Sunday, 21 May (Shinnecock Hills, NY).
  • British Open. Thursday, 16 July to Sunday, 19 July (Royal Birkdale).
  • Presidents Cup. Tuesday, 22 September to Sunday, 27 September (Medinah Country Club, Illinois).
  • Australian Open. Thursday, 3 December to Sunday, 6 December (Kingston Heath).

Rugby League World Cup (Australia, PNG)

  • Kangaroos Game 1. New Zealand. Thursday, 15 October June (Sydney).
  • Kangaroos Game 2. Fiji. Sunday, 25 October (Brisbane).
  • Kangaroos Game 3. Cook Islands. Saturday, 31 October (Townsville).
  • Final. Sunday, 15 November (Brisbane).

Football, FIFA World Cup Cup (USA, Canada, Mexico)

  • Socceroos Game 1. UEFA Qualifier. Saturday, 13 June (Vancouver).
  • Socceroos Game 2. USA. Friday, 19 June (Seattle).
  • Socceroos Game 3. Paraguay. Thursday, 25 June (San Francisco).
  • Final. Sunday, 19 July (New Jersey).

Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (Scotland)

  • Opening Ceremony. Thursday, 23 July.
  • Closing Ceremony. Sunday, 2 August.

Rugby Union—Super Rugby Pacific

  • Opening Matches. Friday, 13 February.
  • Super Round. Friday 24, April to Sunday, 26 April (Christchurch).
  • Final. June (Exact dates and venues tbc).

Rugby Union—Wallabies Tests

  • Ireland. Saturday, 4 July (Allianz Stadium).
  • France. Saturday, 11 July (Suncorp Stadium).
  • Italy. Saturday, 18 July (home venue tbc).
  • Japan. Saturday, 8 August (away venue tbc).
  • Japan. Saturday, 15 August (Queensland Country Bank Stadium)
  • Argentina. Saturday, 29 August (away venue tbc).
  • Argentina. Saturday, 5 September (away venue tbc).
  • South Africa. Sunday, 27 September (home venue tbc).
  • New Zealand. Saturday, 10 October (away venue tbc).
  • New Zealand. Saturday, 17 October. (Accor Stadium).
  • England. Sunday, 8 November (Twickenham).
  • Scotland. Sunday, 15 November (Murrayfield).
  • Wales. Saturday, 21 November (Cardiff). 

Bathurst 1000

  • Thursday, October 8 to Sunday, 11 October.

Formula 1

  • Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne. Sunday, 8 March (Opening race).
  • Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. Sunday, 7 June.
  • Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, UAE. Sunday, 6 December (Final race).

Horse Racing

  • Golden Slipper. Saturday, 21 March (Rosehill).
  • The Everest. Saturday, 17 October (Royal Randwick).
  • WS Cox Plate. Saturday, 24 October (Flemington).
  • Melbourne Cup. Tuesday, 3 November (Flemington).

Editorial Team