After 26 regular season rounds and an incredibly dramatic Finals Series it will be Auckland FC and Sydney FC who go head-to-head in the 2026 Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final on Saturday 23 May.
The Kiwi side will host their first-ever Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final on home soil – after qualifying as the highest placed team – seeing the league’s showpiece event head across the ditch for the first time in the competition’s history.
Tickets for the 2025-26 Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final go on sale on Monday 18 May at 9am NZST.
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL
Tickets start at $20 for Juniors (14 and under), and from $39 for Adults – with participating club members able to access a 20% discount on tickets in an exclusive window from 9am to 4pm NZST on Monday.
Fans can also watch and stream the Isuzu UTE A-League 2026 Grand Final live on 10, 10 Streaming and Paramount+.
For New Zealand viewers, the Isuzu UTE A-League 2026 Grand Final will be available live on Sky Sport, can be streamed on Sky Sport Now and Sky Go and will play free-to-air on Sky Open.
How they got there
On Friday night, the Black Knights were too strong for Adelaide United, defeating the Reds 4-1 on aggregate across the two-legged Semi-Final.
With the scores locked at 1-1 after the first leg in New Zealand, the Black Knights scored first, on the stroke of half time through a header from defender Jake Girdwood-Reich to take the advantage into the break.
MATCH REPORT: Awesome Auckland advance to Grand Final with Adelaide win
A Sam Cosgrove penalty early in the second half doubled the visitor’s lead on the night to silence the sold out home crowd, before a late counter attack from Logan Rogerson finished off the Reds and sealed a memorable victory for Auckland FC.
The Championship-decider, will be Auckland’s first Grand Final appearance and the first-ever A-League Grand Final to be played in New Zealand.
In the second Semi-Final, Sydney FC qualified for their eighth Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, defeating Premiers, the Newcastle Jets over two legs.
The Sky Blues thought they had snatched the win in normal time on Saturday night, with Piero Quispe’s goal in the 63rd minute seeing Patrick Kisnorbo’s side leading into injury time.
MATCH REPORT: Sydney through to Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final on penalties
In the depths of injury-time, Newcastle Jets’ talisman, Eli Adams smashed home a skidding cross in the 96th minute to send the capacity McDonald Jones Stadium crowd into a frenzy and the match into extra time.
Neither side could find a winner in the thirty minutes of extra time to send the match into a dramatic penalty shootout. It was Sydney FC who held their nerve, to win the sudden death spot kicks 4-2 and book their place in the Isuzu UTE A-League 2026 Grand Final.
