India qualifies for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Football Tournament

The Indian women's football team qualified for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup to be held in Australia in 2026 with a victory over former champion Thailand, 2-1. It is for the first time that Blue Tigress, as the Indian Women's Football team is known, has qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time on merit.

The Indian team directly qualified for the AFC Asian Cup in 2003, and, being the host country, they automatically qualified for the 2022 edition. However, they were later forced to withdraw from the 2022 edition due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian football team.

Qualifying Tournament for the 2026 AFC Cup

Twelve countries will play in the  2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. Australia, as a host, automatically qualified and the three top teams of the 2022 edition - China, South Korea and China have also qualified.

To decide the remaining eight spots, the Asia Football Federation (AFC) organised a Qualifying tournament. Thirty-two teams participated in the Qualifying tournament, grouped into eight groups.

Eight cities in eight Asian nations hosted one Group.

India was in Group B, along with Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Thailand and Iraq, for the Qualifier tournament played at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium in Thailand. The winner of the group qualified for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup, to be held in Australia.

India Tops Group B by Beating Thailand 

In the group stages, India defeated Mongolia 13-0, Timor-Leste 4-0, and Iraq 5-0.

In the final group match, India faced host Thailand. Both India and Thailand had identical points and the same goal difference.

It was a do-or-die match for both teams, as the winner would secure a spot in the Australian tournament.

The match was played at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium in Thailand, where India emerged victorious 2-1. Both the goals for India were scored by Sangita.

The Indian defence was very strong throughout the tournament, and they conceded a solitary goal, which was in the final match against host Thailand.

Teams which have Qualified for the 2026 Asian Cup 

Twelve teams will participate in the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup to be held in Australia.

The already qualified teams are: Australia, India, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei (also known as Taiwan), Uzbekistan, and Bangladesh.

The winner of Group A, which comprises Jordan, Bhutan, Singapore, Lebanon, and Iran, has yet to be determined. Those matches were postponed due to the Israel-Iran war.

About the Asian Football Federation 

Established in 1954 in Manila, Philippines

It is the sports governing body in Asia and is affiliated with FIFA.

Members - 47 countries/territories football federations.

Headquarters - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

President - Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain)