The 2026 A-League Men Grand Final, known officially as the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, was a soccer match played between Auckland and Sydney on 23 May 2026 at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Background The Game would be Auckland's first Grand Final since being established in 2024. Auckland would achieve this in its second season in the A-League season where they would be knocked out by Melbourne Victory 2–1 in the 2025 A-League Finals series. In the 2026 Finals series Auckland played Melbourne City after penalties in the elimination finals and Adelaide United 4–1 in the Semi Final. Previously Auckland also won the A-League Premiership in the 2024-25 season.
For Sydney FC it would be there first time in the grand final since 2021 where they lost 3–1 against Melbourne City. This will be Sydney's eighth Grand Final in the club's history, with their last championship coming in 2020 against the Melbourne City and last trophy being the 2023 Australia Cup. This would be coach Patrick Kisnorbo's 8th match after being appointed Sydney coach in March of 2026.
Previous finals In the following table, finals until 2004 were in the National Soccer League era, since 2006 were in the A-League Men era. TeamPrevious grand final appearances (bold indicates winners)AucklandNoneSydney7 (2006, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Road to the final Following the regular season, a four-week Finals Series was played to determine the winner of the A-League Championship. The top two highest-placed teams were given a bye into the semi-finals, while third to sixth were drawn into the elimination finals; both third and fourth hosted against the sixth and fifth-placed sides respectively. The winners progressed to a two-legged semi-final, first introduced in the 2021–22 season, with the first leg played at the home stadium of the lowest-ranked club. Both legs' results were put into an aggregate score to decide the winners, which would face each other in the Grand Final. Should the aggregate scores were level, the second match would go into extra time, and then to a penalty shoot-out should the score remained level. The away goals rule was not used in the semi-finals. The finalists who placed higher on the table would host the Grand Final. Auckland FCRoundSydney FC2025–26 A-League Men2nd placeRegular season2025–26 A-League Men5th placeOpponentScoreElimination-finalsOpponentScoreMelbourne City1–1 (H)Melbourne Victory0–1 (A)OpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legSemi-finalsOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legAdelaide United4–11–1 (H)3–0 (A)Newcastle Jets2–2 1–1 (H)1–1 (A)
Prematch
Venue The Grand Final was held at Go Media Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, the home ground of Auckland FC. It was the first Grand Final hosted at the venue. This was the first A-League Grand Final to be hosted in New Zealand.
Ticketing Tickets went on sale for the match on 18 May, with member pre-sale tickets being sold at 7am and public sales beginning at 2pm. The match officially sold out three days later on 21 May.
Broadcasting The match was broadcast on Network 10 and Paramount+ for Australian viewers, Sky Sport for New Zealand viewers, and YouTube for some international viewers. Although the regular season was broadcast on ESPN3 for viewers in the United States, neither the finals series nor the Grand Final were broadcast in the United States, with coverage unavailable on both ESPN and YouTube.
Officiating After winning his third referee of the year award, Alex King would be announced to be the referee in this game. this would be Kings third time as referee in the A-League Grand Final.
Kearney Robinson and Daniel Ilievski were named as assistant referees. The fourth official duties were given to Daniel Elder, with Shaun Evans being named the video assistant referee, along with Kate Jacewicz as assistant VAR and Sam Kelly taking the role of Offside Support Official.
Team selection Squads of both clubs for the match were named on 21 May. Coming into Auckland's squad was only Felipe Gallegos while they had Oli Sail, Guillermo May, and Marlee Francois were out due to injuries. Sydney FC saw no unavailability's in the squad while Al-Hassan Toure returned from injury and Corey Hollman would be promoted into the senior squad.
Match
GK 1 Michael WoudRB 2 Hiroki Sakai (c)CB 3 Jake Girdwood-ReichCB 23 Dan Hall CB 4 Nando Pijnaker LB 17 Callan Elliot RM 7 Cameron Howieson CM 6 Louis Verstraete LM 21 Jesse Randall RF 77 Lachlan Brook LF 9 Sam Cosgrove Substitutes:GK 12 James HiltonDF 15 Francis de Vries DF 52 Luka VicelichMF 8 Felipe GallegosMF 57 Van FitzharrisFW 14 Liam Gillion FW 27 Logan Rogerson Manager: Steve Corica GK 12 Harrison Devenish-MearesRB 23 Rhyan Grant (c)CB 41 Alexandar PopovicCB 4 Jordan Courtney-PerkinsLB 17 Ben GaruccioDM 8 Wataru Kamijo DM 24 Paul Okon-EngstlerRM 44 Akol Akon CM 20 Tiago Quintal LM 7 Piero Quispe CF 80 Apostolos Stamatelopoulos Substitutes:GK 1 Gus HoefslootDF 16 Joel KingMF 36 Rhys Youlley MF 70 Ahmet Arslan FW 9 Víctor Campuzano FW 10 Joe Lolley FW 13 Patrick Wood Manager: Patrick Kisnorbo Man of the Match (Joe Marston Medal): Cameron Howieson (Auckland FC)
Assistant referees: Kearney Robinson (New South Wales) Daniel Ilievski (Victoria) Fourth official: Daniel Elder (South Australia) Reserve assistant referee: Bradley Wright (New South Wales) Video assistant referee: Shaun Evans (Victoria) Assistant video assistant referees: Kate Jacewicz (Victoria) Sam Kelly (New South Wales)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.
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