Next year’s continental championship serves as the final stage of Asian qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, where a dozen nations will tussle for six tickets to Brazil 2027.
The first of two stages of Asian qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup has concluded
Eight qualifiers will join hosts Australia, China PR, Japan & Korea Republic at the AFC Women's Asian Cup
Top six nations will secure tickets for Brazil 2027
The first of two Asian qualification phases for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ is now complete, with a dozen nations remaining in the hunt for six direct berths to Brazil 2027.
For the last time, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup will serve as the final qualifying tournament for Asia, with the region moving to a series of standalone preliminaries for the 2031 edition of the global finals.
Australia will serve as the host nation for the continental showpiece in March 2026 and they were joined by the top three nations from the previous edition – China PR, Korea Republic and Japan – in qualifying directly for the Women’s Asian Cup.
That left eight remaining slots at the 12-team finals to be determined through the qualifiers, which were concluded this week. 34 nations began that phase, in eight groups hosted across the continent and by the end some regional powers had fallen and emerging nations took a huge step towards reaching the Women’s World Cup.
It was a fine qualifying tournament for a pair of South Asian nations in Bangladesh and India. The former, sitting at 128 on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking are set to feature in the continental finals for the first time while India topped a section containing 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cup qualifiers Thailand.
IR Iran pipped Group A hosts Jordan on the final day with a 2-1 win in Amman while it took penalties to separate Group F surprise packets Nepal and Uzbekistan, with the Uzbeks progressing by the narrowest of margins after that pair finished level on points, goal differential and goals scored.
A global powerhouse at youth level, Korea DPR also showed that they are intent on making a real splash on the senior stage in two year's time as they plundered 26 goals, while not conceding, across three dominant Group H outings in Tajikistan.
The three-time Asian champions featured five players from the side that won the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ last year in Colombia. Another youth level star, forward Kim Kyong-yong, finished as the top scorer having grabbed nine goals in a clinical showing in Dushanbe.
The draw for the Women's Asian Cup will take place in Sydney on 29 July.
Dates: 1-21 March, 2026 Host nation: Australia Automatic qualifiers: China PR, Japan, Korea Republic Qualified nations: Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, IR Iran, India, Korea DPR, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
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