The 2026 Asian Women's Football Championship takes place in Australia from January 1 to 26. 3. This is the arena where the Vietnamese women's team aims to find a ticket to the 2027 World Cup. Coach Mai Duc Chung's team will successively face India, Taiwan (China) and Japan in the group stage.
According to regulations, the 4 teams that pass the quarter-finals will win a direct ticket to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Teams that stop in the quarter-finals still have the opportunity to compete for the remaining spot through qualifying matches and intercontinental play-offs. This makes the race to win a position in the top group fierce right from the group stage.
To ensure smooth and quality matches, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will apply a series of modern technologies.
VAR upgrade
For the first time in the history of the tournament, the video assistant referee (VAR) system will be applied in all 27 matches, marking an important milestone in increasing the accuracy, consistency and integrity of referee standards at the leading national women's team tournament in Asia.
The VAR system will be supplemented by a virtual offside line (VOL), used to review offside decisions. By providing 2D and 3D (solid) visual images with high accuracy within the existing VAR framework, VOL will further enhance the clarity and reliability of close offside assessments, emphasizing AFC's persistent dedication in protecting fairness and transparency on the pitch.
Digital substitution
For the first time, the digital substitution system will be used at the Asian Championship, to help substitution requirements become faster, clearer and more reliable for teams and referees.
Replacing traditional paperwork procedures with modern digital solutions, this system will allow teams to send substitution requests more effectively and accurately throughout the match.
The selected player list will be displayed and the status of each request will be tracked in real time, information will be immediately transmitted to the relevant referees for consideration and confirmation.
Tactical support camera
To further improve the technical and tactical analysis capabilities of participating teams, each bench will be equipped with a device to review situations on the field, allowing access to multiple direct camera data sources, including specialized tactical cameras, program feeds, data feeds from behind the goal and a 16m angle.
Meanwhile, a wide-angle tactical camera (MCP) will be installed at each stadium to ensure continuous and uninterrupted live recording. In addition to supporting analysis during the match, tactical footage will also be provided to participating teams after each match, so that they can draw necessary lessons.
Electronic Performance Tracking and Evaluation System (EPTS)
In another breakthrough development step, key performance indicators will be recorded on all matches through the Electronic Performance Tracking System (EPTS).
Using specialized surveillance cameras installed at each location and supported by television signals, the EPTS system will collect many types of data, including running speed, distance traveled while holding the ball and time spent on low-intensity and high-intensity running activities. The system will also process these input data to accurately determine the position of players throughout each match.
