The 2026 Women's Asian Cup finals will take place from January 1 to March 21, 2026 in the three cities of Sydney, Perth and Gold Coast. The top two teams in each group and the two third-placed teams with the best results will qualify for the quarter-finals.
The draw results put the Vietnam women's team in Group C with the women's teams of Japan, Taiwan (China) and India. In this group, the Japanese women's team is considered the highest, while the Vietnamese team is the team with more international competition experience than the other two opponents.
"The Vietnamese women's team is still quite unfamiliar to me, so we have to study them more. From what I see, they can defend very well and can endanger anyone because they are very disciplined.
To be honest, I feel that the draw results are good for us and we have a good chance to pass the group stage. We will prepare very carefully. The current situation is quite good for us but we have to be patient and proactive in the matches, coach Nils Nielsen of the Japanese women's team told the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) homepage.
The Indian women's team, the team that eliminated the Thai women's team in the qualifying round, also highly appreciated Mr. Mai Duc Chung and his team. Crispin Chettri of the Indian women's team said: "I think the Vietnamese and Taiwanese women's teams are also very strong teams, but we are very happy to be in this group and I think we can compete very well with them.
We want to develop the team, so it is important to have the opportunity to play against a team like Japan. The way my players played and their winning spirit was shown in the qualifiers in Chiang Mai. In general, we can be very happy with this draw result".
Meanwhile, player Sangita Basfore of the Indian women's team emphasized that the team's group is very difficult. However, she and her teammates will give their all, compete focused and accept all challenges. Through the 2026 Asian Cup, she wants to prove her ability with the Indian team, while also finding opportunities to qualify for the 2027 World Cup.
Chan Hiu Ming - coach of the Taiwanese team (China) - was satisfied with the draw results. The tactician said: Normally I dont get lucky in draw games, but I think I can be satisfied with the draw results because I think we have a chance to win to reach the quarter-finals. Japan is the strongest team but the remaining three teams are of similar level.
The Indian and Vietnamese teams are very strong opponents, but I have not had the opportunity to face the Vietnamese women's team, so I am really looking forward to this match. The group result can depend on the goal difference, so we have to ensure we maintain the advantage against Japan in the first match and we can also be more confident after a good performance after the opening match".
According to the schedule, the Vietnam women's team will meet the Indian team (March 4, 2026), Taiwan (China) on March 7, 2026, and then the Japanese team (March 10, 2026). This is clearly a very favorable schedule for Huynh Nhu and her teammates.
