On the afternoon of January 19, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) held a draw ceremony to divide the groups of the 2026 Southeast Asian Women's Futsal Championship. This is the second time the regional playground for women's futsal has been held, after the first tournament took place in the Philippines, where the Vietnamese women's futsal team won the championship.
This year's tournament gathers 7 top women's futsal teams in Southeast Asia including: Thailand (8th in the world), Vietnam - defending champion (11th in the world), Indonesia (18th in the world), Malaysia (21th in the world), Myanmar (38th in the world), Australia (66th in the world) and Philippines (69th in the world).
According to the draw results, the Vietnamese women's futsal team is in Group B with opponents Myanmar, Philippines and Australia. Group A includes hosts Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. With this situation, Group B is assessed to have remarkable competition as the teams all possess a physically strong playing style and have made clear progress in recent times.
In the 2024 tournament, the Vietnamese women's futsal team once faced Myanmar and won with a score of 5-2, thereby affirming its leading position in the region. Entering the 2026 tournament, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team are expected to continue to maintain stable form and fighting spirit, in the context of Southeast Asian women's futsal increasingly developing and narrowing the level gap.
With the position of reigning Southeast Asian champion and SEA Games 33 champion, the Vietnamese women's futsal team is considered one of the top candidates for the championship. However, the journey to defend the throne is predicted to be not easy, especially when Thailand has the home advantage and many other teams are showing clear progress.
The 2026 Southeast Asian Women's Futsal Championship will take place from February 24 to March 2, 2026 in Thailand. To prepare for the tournament, the Vietnamese women's futsal team officially gathered again from January 18 in Ho Chi Minh City, entering the training phase towards the goal of successfully defending the regional championship.
