Sydney, Australia – Matildas coach Joe Montemurro has revealed that Mary Fowler is ahead of schedule in her recovery from a ruptured ACL and is expected to feature in the Asian Cup campaign.
Fowler suffered the injury in April while playing for Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals, which typically requires a 12-month recovery time.
However, the 22-year-old is already back up and running and is expected to join Manchester City in early October, giving her up to four months of football to regain her form and fitness ahead of the Asian Cup.
“I spoke to her the other day, and she’s on track,” Montemurro said after Tuesday night’s draw.
“She’s in Sydney at the moment doing some running.
So she’ll join City, I think, in early October… she’s looking good and she should be hopefully back playing before November.”
The Matildas were dealt a challenging draw for the Asian Cup, facing the Philippines in Perth, Iran on the Gold Coast, and powerhouse South Korea in a rematch of their previous Asian Cup campaign.
Montemurro expressed satisfaction with the draw, despite it being close to the most difficult group they could have landed.
In addition to Fowler’s expected return, star skipper Sam Kerr is also working her way back to full fitness in pre-season training with Chelsea after a complicated ACL injury.
Montemurro said that Kerr was taking a cautious approach, aiming to be at the level with the rest of the team by the end of pre-season and then pushing for game time.
The Matildas have just two international windows to find their feet under the new coach before the tournament starts.
Australia netted two wins, a draw, and a loss against Slovenia and Panama in their first batch of friendlies under Montemurro.
The 2026 Women’s Asian Cup will run from March 1 to March 21, with the top two teams in each of the three groups joined by the two best third-placed sides in the knockout phase of the tournament.