Perth International Football Cup: West Ham’s Matildas star Katrina Gorry hopeful of playing at 2026 Asian Cup

Katrina Gorry does not know whether she will pull on a Matildas jersey again at a Women’s World Cup or an Olympics.

But the 2026 Asian Cup in Australia is absolutely on her radar, with the veteran declaring we have not seen the last of her in midfield for the national team.

The West Ham star will be in action for the Hammers against Paris Saint-Germain at HBF Park on Thursday in their first fixture of the Perth International Football Cup.

It will be Gorry’s first game since the Olympics, a tournament at which her participation was threatened by an ankle syndesmosis injury suffered in April.

When the Matildas struggled and were bundled out in the group stage, there were fears it could draw a curtain on the 32 year-old’s time in the green and gold after 110 games.

Gorry will turn 35 during the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and the ensuing Los Angeles Olympics may appear a bridge too far.

But she said the Asian Cup on home soil in less than 18 months’ time was a distinct possibility.

“I’m not done yet. I’ll play as long as I can, I love being in the Australian jersey,” she said.

“What we’ve done for women’s sport at the moment, it’s had a huge impact, not only on me, but anyone that puts on the Matildas jersey and if we can keep on bringing light to the game here, building our league here, getting more kids playing the game, we all want to keep on playing as long as we can.

“To have the tournament not that far away, I think everyone’s going to be holding onto that.

“(The World Cup) was definitely a special moment and to be able to relive that at the Asian Cup would be the best thing in the world, so that’s the goal at the moment.”

Gorry has no specific thoughts over who should replace Tony Gustavsson as Matildas coach, but said the best fit for the role would be a coach who was not coming in blind.

“Knowing the Aussie culture, knowing where we’ve been, where we’ve come from, knowing the players that are coming through as well and giving them an opportunity,” she said.

In the event she is not around the squad at the Matildas’ next major tournament, Gorry has full faith in Clare Wheeler, and said the Everton midfielder was an important part of the midfield puzzle moving forward alongside Kyra Cooney-Cross.

“If wheels took my position, I wouldn’t be mad at all, I’d know it’s going to be given to a great player, and she’s going to go on to do great things,” Gorry said.

“It’s a special time to be in the team at the moment, to see the younger players coming up and knowing that it’s going to be in a safe spot moving forward.”

For now though, Gorry is fully focused on West Ham’s upcoming Women’s Super League season, and despite their 10th placed finish last season, she is adamant the upcoming campaign will not find them in a relegation battle.

“We won’t get relegated, that’s for sure. We’ve brought in new players, we’ve got a great group of girls, girls that want to learn, older experienced players wanting to share their knowledge,” she said.

“We get to start fresh. We don’t have to think about last season.

“We’ve got a special group, we’ve got the whole club working for us, they’ve been working tirelessly over the off season.”