It is very good that six Iranian women were able to decide their own fate by choosing asylum. Applause for everyone who helped them and for the Australian government for making this possible. At the same time, I admire and sympathise with the players and coach who decided to return because of the repercussions that would have affected their loved ones if they had not done so. They are most likely aware that they face very severe punishment, but despite this, they have shown courage and are returning to protect their loved ones. A uplifting example of civil courage... but it's damn sad considering the whole situation.
Update od the story... Breaking: high level intervention sought to prevent Iran women’s football teamfrom leaving Sydney airport tonight…possible exit visas denied…#Iran #football #womensasiancup pic.twitter.com/k4LiPgsyuY— Tracey Holmes (@TraceyLeeHolmes) March 10, 2026
Vietnam's 0-4 loss to Japan allows the Philippines to take the final spot in the WAC quarterfinals and automatic spot in the Olympic Women's qualifying tournament.
Group C - round 3 JAPAN --------------- 3m ----- 9p ----- 17-0 CHINESE TAIPEI ---- 3m ----- 6p ----- 4-3 VIETNAM ---------------- 3m ----- 3p ----- 2-6 INDIA ---------------------- 3m ----- 0p ----- 2-16 JAPAN 4 - 0 VIETNAM Ueki 21', Hamano 51', Fujino 64', Seike 67' (att: --- ) INDIA 1 - 3 CHINESE TAIPEI Manisha 39' --- Yu-hsuan Su 12', P. Chanu 45'+9 (og.), Yu-chin Chen 77' (att: --- ) Top Scorers 4 Kiko Seike (JPN) 4 Riko Ueki (JPN) 4 Alanna Kennedy (AUS) 4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK) 3 Hinata Miyazawa (JPN) 3 Kyong-yong Kim (DPK)
It's up to 7, 6 players and 1 staff. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/10/iran-womens-football-team-asylum-australia Two more members of the Iranian women’s football squad have reportedly sought asylum in Australia after the team competed in the Women’s Asian Cup. A plane left Sydney airport on Tuesday night local time for Malaysia, reports said, with players and staff, ending a dramatic two days when five players were granted asylum after refusing to return home. Guardian Australia understands seven people have sought asylum in Australia, including the five granted visas on Tuesday. Sources said one player and one staff member had not travelled out of Australia. As of Wednesday morning, it was unclear if the additional team members had been granted visas.
The entire team and support staff were interviewed individually at the Sydney airport before departing, and offered the opportunity to stay. It was a free choice without pressure from Australia's side. At least one member of the team was on the phone with family up until the last second before the flight trying to decide whether to stay or not, but ultimately boarded the flight to Malaysia. All who chose to stay including the 2 additional ones have been granted humanitarian visas. The threat is not just returning to a country at war: "A commentator on Iranian state television had called the women 'traitors' last week for their silence during the anthem, saying they should be severely punished. Supporters who have been in contact with the players said some of their family members had been detained or threatened." https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/world/asia/iran-soccer-women-asylum-australia.html
Quarter-finals (4 winners will qualify to WWC, 4 losers will advance to play-offs)) QF3 AUSTRALIA 2 - 1 KOREA DPR Kennedy 9', Kerr 47' --- Un-yong Chae 65' (att: 16 466) The statistics pretty much tell the whole story here. The North Koreans had 21 shots, including 9 on target, and even hit the post... but ultimately scored just one goal. Australia had 4 shots, including two on target... and scored two goals. Two individual errors by the North Korean players – in both cases at the start of each half – led to goals for Australia, whose players dug in in front of their own goal in this match and defended their lead for over 90 minutes. It could be said that the tactics adopted by coach Montemurro paid off... though it would be closer to the truth to say that the Matildas won this match rather fortuitously and by the skin of their teeth. The North Koreans have a young team that will be worth watching in the future once their players have gained a bit more experience and physical strength. 14.03 | QF4 | CHINA - CHINESE TAIPEI 14.03 | QF1 | KOREA REPUBLIC - UZBEKISTAN 15.03 | QF2 | JAPAN - PHILIPPINES Semi-finals 17.03 | SF2 | AUSTRALIA - QF4 winner 18.03 | SF1 | QF1 winner - QF3 winner WWC play-offs (2 winners will qualify to WWC, 2 losers will advance to inter-confederation play-offs) 19.03 | QF1 loser - QF 3 loser 19.03 | KOREA DPR - QF4 loser Final 21.03
I guess all is not lost for DPRK to qualify for the WWC--they look like at least the second best team in the subsequent WWC playoffs. If that fails, they still would play in the intercontinental playoffs, where, once again, they seem pretty strong to get one of the three places.
They might be good for Asia (obviously behind Japan), but I'm not convinced they will rise to any great height if they don't allow their players to go out and play in significant club leagues to develop new skills and tactics and understandings of opponents.
Quarter-finals (4 winners will qualify to WWC, 4 losers will advance to play-offs) 13.03 | QF2 | AUSTRALIA 2 - 1 KOREA DPR QF4 CHINA 2 - 0 (a.e.t) CHINESE TAIPEI Ziqin Shao 94', Ying-hui Chen 118'(og.) (att: 5 238) The Steel Roses struggled for a long time against their neighbours from across the sea. It took extra time for the defending champions to secure their place in the semi-finals. The Taiwanese, who focused primarily on a tight defensive game, lacked quality up front and more numbers commited to attack. Despite creating a few half-chances, it was hard to expect them to score today. A tactic designed to see the game through to penalties only saw them make it to extra time. In the context of the World Cup qualifiers, the Taiwanese had a tough draw. They found themselves on the difficult side of the bracket and now will face North Korea in the play-offs – against whom they stand little chance to win. They will have to seek a route to the World Cup via the intercontinental play-offs. QF 1 KOREA REPUBLIC 6 - 0 UZBEKISTAN H.Son 9', Y.Ko 20', S.Park 57', S.Ji 72', E.Lee 85', S.Jang 90'+3(p.) (att: 12 974) Kotryna Kulbyte fielded her reserves for today’s match against Korea. The Uzbeks would have had little chance of beating the Koreans anyway, so sitting this match out to save their strength for the play-off – most likely against the Philippines – for a place at the World Cup seemed a fairly logical move (and, incidentally, we can expect the Filipinas to do exactly the same tomorrow in their match against Japan). The spectacle suffered as a result; the match was a one-sided affair, and the Koreans merely boosted their statistics. 15.03 | QF 3 | JAPAN - PHILIPPINES Top Scorers 5 Alanna Kennedy (AUS) 4 Kiko Seike (JPN) 4 Riko Ueki (JPN) 4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK) 3 Hinata Miyazawa (AUS) 3 Sam Kerr (AUS) 3 Kyong-yong Kim (DPK) Semi-finals 17.03 | SF2 | AUSTRALIA - CHINA 18.03 | SF1 | KOREA REPUBLIC - QF3 winner WWC play-offs (2 winners will qualify to WWC, 2 losers will advance to inter-confederation play-offs) 19.03 | UZBEKISTAN - QF 3 loser 19.03 | KOREA DPR - CHINESE TAIPEI Final 21.03
Clever of Uzbekistan to rest their starters against ROK. I won't underestimate Philippines, but a great chance for Uzbekistan to get into WWC.
Yes, although it's no good for the Asian Cup itself that a team in the quarter-finals doesn't actually deploy their best team and fight to advance. Of course the draw was lopsided since the beginning, but the fact that the qualification to the WWC is way more important than the tournament itself made things even odder.
Iranian Women’s Soccer Players Withdraw Asylum Request !Would anyone flee a dictatorship… then suddenly go back? I know their hostage diplomacy playbook very well.The Iranian media now announced that Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Sarbali, and Zahra Meshkinkar, two players and a staff… pic.twitter.com/JilU4ua8JM— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) March 14, 2026
Very sad. It's hard to fight for your rights when the lives of your beloved ones are under threat. I lost count of how many brave and admirable human beings have lost their life or their personal liberty under vile Iran's theocracy.
The Philippines also fielded mostly reserves Including their goaltender in the starting lineup and 4 are teenagers I believe. Only Cowart, Long and Sawicki are starters to help solidify the defence. .
Quarter-finals (4 winners will qualify to WWC, 4 losers will advance to play-offs) 13.03 | QF2 | AUSTRALIA 2 - 1 KOREA DPR 14.03 | QF 4 | CHINA 2 - 0 CHINESE TAIPEI 14.03 | QF 1 | KOREA REPUBLIC 6 - 0 UZBEKISTAN QF3 JAPAN 7 - 0 PHILIPPINES Tanaka 45'', Koga 45'+3 76', Chiba 65', Matsukubo 67', Tanikawa 86', Ueki 90' (att: 17 205) Just like Uzbekistan yesterday, the Philippines fielded a reserve team against Japan today and then dropped deep into a defensive block – trying to weather the onslaught. This tactic was never going to work, as by the 40-minute mark the Filipinas were essentially reduced to a mere shadow of a team in their own penalty area, inviting wave after wave of attacks from their opponents. The two goals scored by Nadeshiko Japan just before half-time and another five in the second half were, in any case, a mild punishment for this display of anti-football. From the Philippines’ perspective, however, the objective – to conserve as much energy as possible ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan – was achieved. For the Japanese players, 13 of whom have scored a total of 24 goals in four matches so far, reaching the semi-finals marks the end of the ‘training’ matches and the start of the actual tournament. Top Scorers 5 Riko Ueki (JPN) 5 Alanna Kennedy (AUS) 4 Kiko Seike (JPN) 4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK) 3 Hinata Miyazawa (AUS) 3 Sam Kerr (AUS) 3 Kyong-yong Kim (DPK) Semi-finals 17.03 | SF2 | AUSTRALIA - CHINA 18.03 | SF1 | KOREA REPUBLIC - JAPAN WWC play-offs (2 winners will qualify to WWC, 2 losers will advance to inter-confederation play-offs) 19.03 | UZBEKISTAN - PHILIPPINES 19.03 | KOREA DPR - CHINESE TAIPEI Final 21.03
SEMI-FINALS CHINA 1 - 2 AUSTRALIA Zhan Linyan 26'(p.) --- Foord 17', Kerr 58' (att: 35 170) Australia won, but once again failed to impress. Montemurro once again set the Matildas up defensively, with a tactic focused on intercepting the ball and launching quick counter-attacks, whilst slowing the game down when in the lead. As in the match against North Korea, this strategy proved effective. The problem is that this is the semi-final of the Asian Championship, and Australia are the hosts; yet, every time they scored a goal, the Mathildas did not actively seek another but defended their lead by playing for time and wasting the clock. There's word for it: anti-football. The Chinese tried to make something happen, but tournament fatigue clearly caught up with them in this match. Whilst their attacks in the first half posed a considerable threat, in the second half they were more often thwarted by the wall put up by Australia. KOREA REPUBLIC. 1 - 4 JAPAN C. Kang 78' --- Ueki 15', Hamano 25', Kumagai 75', Chiba 81' (att: 17 367) If the South Koreans went into this match hoping to put up a close fight against the Japanese, the reality on the pitch taught them a lesson in humility after just 30 minutes. Nadeshiko Japan dominated their opponents in almost every aspect of the game, and imposed such a gruelling pace that the Tigresses of Asia looked more like helpless kittens running haphazardly across the pitch after every pass. Had it not been for a controversial refereeing decision, the match would have been over after 40 minutes, following the Japanese team’s third goal, which was ultimately disallowed. True to the saying – ‘What is delayed is not lost’ – Japan added a third goal in the final quarter of the second half. Taking advantage of a moment of complacency from their opponents, the Koreans pulled one back three minutes later... only to find themselves fishing the ball out of their own net moments later, as Japan’s fourth goal made it clear that there would be no comeback in this match. FINAL (21.03.2026) AUSTRALIA - JAPAN Top Scorers 6 Riko Ueki (JPN) 5 Alanna Kennedy (AUS) 4 Sam Kerr (AUS) 4 Kiko Seike (JPN) 4 Yu-jong Myong (DPK) 3 Hinata Miyazawa (JPN) 3 Kyon-yong Kim (DPK)