2026 Women's Asian Cup

Guardian story on North Korea. Interesting to see them back. Their youth teams are certainly impressive.

 

India received a favorable draw but I still imagine they won't be able to make the quarterfinals.

I'm assuming most likely the same teams will qualify as last time with the exception of North Korea probably replacing one of the Philippines or Vietnam.

 

Squad Lists

 

Australia started a goalkeeper who wasn't even in the original squad for the tournament, since all three of the goalies selected are injured.

 

Group A - round 1

KOREA REPUBLIC ------ 1m ----- 3p ----- 3-0
AUSTRALIA ---------------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 1-0
PHILIPPINES -------------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-1
IRAN --------------------------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-3

AUSTRALIA 1 - 0 PHILIPPINES
S. Kerr 14'
(att: 44 379)

KOREA REPUBLIC 3 - 0 IRAN
Yu-ri Choe 37', Hye-Ri Kim 59'(p.), Yoo-jin Ko 75'
(att: 2 874)

 

It appears that the Indian Football Association forgot to send proper match and training kits to its players (they did send youth kits). According to recent reports, 48 hours before the match, the players will be forced to organise the kits themselves, locally in Australia.

PROBLEMS GALORE IN WOMEN’S CAMP IN PERTH

India’s preparations for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 have taken a hit 48 hours before the opening tie against the continent’s most fast-improving side, Vietnam.

The Indian team are yet to receive the suitable match and…

— Jaydeep Basu (@jaydeepbasu) March 2, 2026

 

Nothing to see here, just typical AIFF things.

 

Group B - round 1

KOREA DPR ------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 3-0
CHINA --------------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 2-0
BANGLADESH ---- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-2
UZBEKISTAN ------ 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-3

KOREA DPR 3 - 0 UZBEKISTAN
Yu-jong Myong 6' 24'(p.) 41'(p.)
(att: 1 268)

CHINA 2 - 0 BANGLADESH
Shuang Wang 44', Rui Zhang 45'+1
(att: 6 006)

 

I disagree. There is plenty to see here: no IND squad has ever torched its own federation publicly.

In a world where monetized viral videos of symbolic actions are hoisted as courageous, I see IND WNT's signed protest letter being unrecognized into oblivion.

1) AIFF hosted the previous AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022, meaning AIFF saw itself forced to clothe its WNT for international competition then.
IND WNT finally makes it to the 2026 edition after 23 years not qualifying, and those adult athletes are given u15 kits.

Add insult to injury: coaching staff received undersized kits too. How the hell do you send *undersized* kits for coaching staff?
This is a deliberate federation action to make them fail. Who within AIFF did this?

2) Here is an article covering IND WNT's signed protest letter against its federation. One wonders whether AIFF would have paid for their contingency kits, if that squad have not protested in public.

https://www.rediff.com/sports/repor...undersized-kits-at-afc-asian-cup/20260303.htm

Rarely in recent memory has an Indian football team - men's or women's - taken up issues with the AIFF en masse in such a manner.

"We, the undersigned members of the Indian Women's National Football Team, write to you with deep concern regarding the kits issued to the squad and support staff ahead of our AFC opening match against Vietnam in Perth," the scathing letter said.

"This tournament marks our return to a major continental competition after 23 years and is a significant moment for Indian women's football. Unfortunately, on Matchday Minus 2, when the training and match jerseys arrived via cargo, we discovered a serious issue.

"The kits supplied are not fit for purpose. The sizes appear to have been manufactured for Under-15 or smaller athletes and do not fit at least 80% of the 26-player squad. The coaching staff kits are also incorrectly sized."
:
"We urgently request: 1. Immediate provision of correctly sized match and training kits for all 26 players and coaching staff. 2. Confirmation that suitable replacements will be delivered before kickoff. 3. Clarification on the steps being taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

"We remain fully committed to representing our country with pride and giving our best performance. However, we require basic professional standards to do so. We look forward to your immediate intervention and resolution of this matter."

 

Group C - round 1

JAPAN ----------------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 2-0
VIETNAM ------------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 2-1
INDIA ------------------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 1-2
CHINESE TAIPEI --- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-2

JAPAN 2 - 0 CHINESE TAIPEI
Tanikawa 61', Seike 90'+2
(att: 1 223)

VIETNAM 2 - 1 INDIA
Ngân Thị Vạn Sự 30' 90'+4 --- Nongrum 52'
(att: --- )

 

They bought shirts from the local Macron supplier apparently.

 

Group A - round 2

KOREA REPUBLIC ---- 2m ----- 6p ----- 6-0
AUSTRALIA ----------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 5-0
PHILIPPINES ------------ 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-4
IRAN ------------------------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-7

PHILIPPINES 0 - 3 KOREA REPUBLIC
Yu-gyeong Jeon 12', Soo-jeong Park 15', Eun-ju Mun 56'
(att: 2 332)

IRAN 0 - 4 AUSTRALIA
Sayer 8', Fowler 27', Kennedy 35' 58'
(att: 22 398)

Group B - round 2

KOREA DPR --------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 8-0
CHINA --------------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 5-0
UZBEKISTAN -------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-6
BANGLADESH ------ 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-7

BANGLADESH 0 - 5 KOREA DPR
Yu-jong Myong 45'+5(p.), Kyong-yong Kim 45'+7 64', Un-yong Chae 62', Hye-Yong Kim 90'
(att: 2 102)

UZBEKISTAN 0 - 3 CHINA
Ziqin Shao 30'(p.), Qingtong Li 51' 77'
(att: 8 322)

Top Scorers

4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK)
2 Alanna Kennedy (AUS)
2 Qingtong Li (CHN)
2 Kyong-yong Kim (DPK)
2 Ngan Thi Van Sur (VIE)


Group C - round 2 (today)

CHINESE TAIPEI - VIETNAM (live)
INDIA - JAPAN (live)

 

Group C - round 2

JAPAN --------------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 13-0
CHINESE TAIPEI ------ 2m ----- 3p ----- 1-2
VIETNAM ---------------- 2m ----- 3p ----- 2-2
INDIA ---------------------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 1-13

CHINESE TAIPEI 1 - 0 VIETNAM
Yu-hsuan Su 26'
(att: 1 784)

INDIA 0 - 11 JAPAN
Yamamoto 4' , Hasegawa 13', Miyazawa 20' 35' 81', Seike 45'+5(p.) 55', Ueki 47' 50' 65', Hijikata 62'
(att: 3 233)

Top Scorers

4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK)
3 Hinata Miyazawa (JPN)
3 Kiko Seike (JPN)
3 Riko Ueki (JPN)

 

South Korea tops group A !
SK was leading 3 - 2 since the 56" min, Australia snatched the draw in stoppage time at 90+8
Australia will have to play Japan or North Korea in quarter final (as i don't see NK losing against China). Not good for the organisers of this cup...

 

Australia will play against North Korea (most likely) or China in quarter final, and then again (the other one of those two) in semi-final.

I'm not sure if Australia will beat North Korea - which would mean early exit for Matildas at home tourney ... but even if they do beat them, China will be waiting in SF. Tough way to the final.

At the same time Japan and South Korea will most likely rest their squads against lower ranked 3rd place teams in quarters before meeting each other in SF.

 

Ha ok, i thought the second group A (Australia) was supposed to meet the first of group B (who will likely be NK)
But i read just right now the first quarter final is : second A against second B

 

Group A - round 3

KOREA REPUBLIC ---- 3m ----- 7p ----- 9-3
AUSTRALIA ----------- 3m ----- 7p ----- 8-3
PHILIPPINES ------------ 3m ----- 3p ----- 2-4
IRAN ------------------------- 3m ----- 0p ----- 0-9

AUSTRALIA 3 - 3 KOREA REPUBLIC
Kennedy 33' 90'+8, Kerr 45'+6 --- Eun-ju Mun 13', Shin-ji Kim 53'(k.), Chae-rim Kang 56'
(att: 60 279)

Good match. Australia's plan A for road to the final lands in the bin. The time has come for 'all hands on the deck plan B"... or next match may be their last on this tourney. Korea Republic played their best game since WWC 2023 match with Germany.

IRAN 0 - 2 PHILIPPINES
Eggesvik 29', C.McDaniel 82'
(att: --- )

Job done for Philippines - now they wait for results from other groups. Their chances to advance from 3rd place look good.
Iran goes home... or do they? FIFA should step in - open threats from gov backed Iran TV to their players... thats violates FIFA rules on government interference in football associations, not to mention some international laws.

 

Stil as you said its bad for organizers if Australia would bow down from home tourney in QF. But even would they manage to get to the final game - they will do it from Perth.
Its gonna be hard to fully fill Sydney's big stadium without Matildas there.

 

Australia has not impressed, winning by only one against Phillipina an drawing SK. Of course i can be wrong but i don't see Australia winning against NK (very likely in semi final).
PS : i have calculated the average age for the NK team : a few less than 23