Japan, Vietnam, and Chinese Taipei will join India in Group C of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026, scheduled to take place in Australia next year.
Know India’s opponents:
Japan: It is the highest-ranked women’s team (7) under the Asian Football Confederation and is the favourite to top Group C and one of the favourites to win the title. It has won the crown twice. In the 2022 edition, it reached the semifinal, where it lost to eventual champion China on penalties.
Vietnam: It is ranked 37, 33 places above India according to the latest FIFA rankings. It has never won the Women’s Asian Cup. In the 2022 edition, it reached the quarterfinals, where it lost to China.
Chinese Taipei: Ranked 42, it has won the Asian Cup three times, which is the joint-second highest along with North Korea. In the 2022 edition, it reached the quarterfinals, where it lost to the Philippines on penalties.
Eight teams booked their tickets to the 21st edition through qualifiers that took place from June 23 to July 19. India sealed its spot with a historic win over higher-ranked Thailand.
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Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, North Korea, India, Iran, Philippines, Uzbekistan and Vietnam joined hosts Australia, alongside the top three finishers from the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 – the defending champion, China, runners-up Korea Republic, and third-placed Japan, who all earned automatic qualification.
The AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 will take place from March 1-21 across five venues — Stadium Australia, Gold Coast Stadium, Perth Rectangular Stadium, Western Sydney Stadium and Perth Stadium — in Australia, with three host cities (Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth).
Pot allocations for the Final Draw (FIFA Rankings in brackets):
Pot 1: Australia (15), Japan (2), DPR Korea (9)
Pot 2: China PR (17), Korea Republic (21), Vietnam (37)
Pot 3: Philippines (41), Chinese Taipei (42), Uzbekistan (51) Pot 4: IR Iran (68), India (70), Bangladesh (128)
** As per the latest FIFA Women’s World Ranking of June 12
