Victory’s Rawlins and Valadon chosen for U23 Asian Cup 

Melbourne Victory is proud to announce that Joshua Rawlins and Jordi Valadon will represent Australia at the upcoming 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup. 

The players from Victory’s A-League Men’s team have been named in Tony Vidmar’s 23-player squad for the tournament’s seventh edition, hosted by Saudi Arabia next month. 

Australia discovered their Group D opponents during October’s draw and will begin their campaign by facing Thailand at Al Shabab FC Arena. 

They will return to the same venue for a meeting with China before the team goes up against top seed Iraq at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium. 

Melbourne Victory Director of Football, John Didulica, gave his reaction to the call-ups: 

“Josh and Jordi have both worked hard to emerge as important members of our A-League Men’s team, so we congratulate them for their selection and look forward to them carrying that form onto the international level. 

“The players have an important match today against Wellington before departing, so we hope we can send them off with the best possible team performance and result.” 

Rawlins has played in seven matches for Arthur Diles’ side this term, including making four starts, and played for the Olyroos in the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup. 

Valadon, 2025’s Victory Medal recipient, has featured on nine occasions at the start of the 2025/26 season and was part of Australia’s squad for the competition two years ago.  

Rawlins and Valadon may miss up to four Isuzu UTE A-League matches should the Australian U23 team make its way to the Asian Cup Final. 

Congratulations and good luck, Joshua and Jordi!  

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