We highlight the rosters and the use of players with clubs outside the country as well as their diaspora and review the results of each group. Note: Group A with Iran, Jordan and Lebanon, among others, was delayed due to the conflict between Iran and Israel and will be reviewed in next week’s women’s football column.
2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifying
Eight qualifying groups comprising 34 teams competed at the end of June/early July throughout Asia, which saw seven teams qualify for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which will be held in March 2026 in Australia, with one group of five teams starting in July and is yet to be completed.
From the qualifiers completed to date, seven teams advanced: Bangladesh (debutants to the Asian Women’s Finals), Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, India, the Philippines, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, who will join host side Australia, and top seeds China, Japan and Korea Republic. In next week’s column, we will have the results of the delayed Group A involving Bhutan, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Singapore.
Nations that did not participate in the Asian qualifiers this year included: Syria, Macau, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Northern Mariana Islands (a U.S. Territory) as well as Brunei, Oman and Yemen—the three of whom all do not have a women’s national team.
Group B
Very early it became clear that goal differential would be a huge factor in this group. India opened the group on June 23 with a 13-0 blasting of Mongolia, with Pyari Xaxa (28) leading the way with five goals. She plays in the local league with Odisha and has 18 goals in 37 internationals for India after the qualifiers were concluded. India won their second game 4-0 over Timor-Leste on June 29 while Thailand defeated the same side 4-0 in their opener on June 26, and then bested previously undefeated Iraq 7-0 on June 29, but still trailed India on goal difference (+17 vs. +11).
In the fourth round of matches on July 2, India defeated Iraq 5-0 but Thailand defeated Mongolia 11-0 to leave the teams tied on goal difference (+22), ahead of their last match against each other on July 5 in Chaing Mai. Tiebreakers, in the event of a deadlock at the end of the group, start with metrics from head-to-head competition, but overall goal differential in the four group games is a later criterion in the calculation. It couldn’t be closer for India and Thailand entering the decider.
On July 5, India’s Blue Tigresses clinched a berth in the Women’s Asian Cup Finals next year in Australia with a 2-1 win over host side Thailand, which was a huge upset as the Thais made the 2015 and 2019 WWC Finals and lost in the Intercontinental Playoffs for a berth at the 2023 tournament in Asia (Australia) and Oceania (New Zealand). Midfielder Sangita Basfore (28) of East Bengal scored two goals, with the winner coming in the 70th minute.
She has nine goals in 70 caps in her senior international career. Thailand scored in the second minute of the match, but the goal was waived off for offsides and they had a shot early in the second half that hit the crossbar. Thailand had the edge of play overall, but India took their chances and defended well in the last 20 minutes (plus seven minutes of second half stoppage time) for the win. India has now made their 10th AFC Women’s Finals (their last was in 2003 before hosting in 2022)—finishing as runners-up in 1979 and 1983, before the Women’s World Cup even began in 1991—but never had to go through the qualifiers.
In 2022, India was selected to host the tournament but had to withdraw due to a COVID outbreak on the team during the finals. India’s hopes to make their first ever FIFA World Finals in Brazil for the 2027 WWC are buoyed by their success over Southeast Asia power Thailand. India finished the group with 12 points (4-0-0; W-D-L) with 24 goals scored and 1 goal allowed, with Thailand on 9 points (3-1-1, with 23 goals for and 2 goals allowed), with Timor-Leste and Iraq even on 4 points and Mongolia fifth with 0 points, scoring only 3 goals and allowing 32.
India’s side is entirely home-based except for forward Manisha Kalyan (23), who plays with PAOK in Greece and scored six goals to tie for sixth in the league in scoring (with 30-year-old Slovakian international forward Nikola Rybanská of OFI leading the league with 22 goals) this past club season. She played two seasons with Apollon Limassol in Cyprus after playing with Gokulam Kerala at home. TribalFootball.com featured her in 2022 when she was with Apollon and became the first Indian women’s player to compete in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (see: The Week in Women's Football: Annual review of UEFA Champions League qualifying group stage - Tribal Football).
Mongolia and Timor-Leste both had squads who all played with domestic clubs in their respective countries.
Group C
Group C saw another upset as Bangladesh will make their debut at the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup after winning all three group games and compiling a +15 goals differential, while Southeast Asian regional power Myanmar (who have made 5 AFC Finals since 2003 out of seven tournaments, including the 2022 event in India), was second with 6 points (+13 gd) and Bahrain and Turkmenistan each had one point from their 2-2 tie, with Bahrain having a slightly better goal differential (-13 vs -15).
The Bahrain vs. Turkmenistan match in Yangoon saw all the scoring from the 84th minute on, with the two teams trading goals twice. Bahrain’s goals came from Leleya Sabkar (23), who plays in the Saudi Arabia women’s second tear with United Eagles, in the 87th minute and then from Hessa Al-lsa (29), also with United Eagles in KSA, in the 96th minute in a very entertaining last few minutes. Hessa Al-lsa has also played professional futsal in Kuwait with Salway Al-Sabah from 2019-2021.
Myanmar scored eight goals with no reply against Turkmenistan in their June 29 opener, including a hat-trick by Win Win (22) of Thitsar Arman W.F.C. of Myanmar, while Bangladesh defeated Bahrain 7-0, as Tohura Khatun scored two goals in first half added time to give Bangladesh an insurmountable 5-0 lead at the half. Khatun finished the tournament with 15 international goals in 29 matches since debuting with the seniors in 2018. She plays at ARB College Sporting Club in Noakhali in the Bangladesh Women’s Football League. She previously played at Bashundhara Kings and was named as the Player of the Year in 2020.
On July 2, Bangladesh used two goals from Ritu Porna Chakma (21)—who plays at home with Bashundhara Kings Women—in the 19th and 70th minutes to defeat Myanmar 2-1 in their effective group decider, as Win Win scored an 89th minute goal for Myanmar. In the other match, Turkmenistan and Bahrain tied 2-2 (see above).
On July 5, Bangladesh qualified for the finals with a 7-0 win over Turkmenistan, with Porna scoring two more goals, as all of Bangladesh’s goals came in the first half. Shamsunnahar Jr. (21) of Bashundhara Kings scored two goals by the 13th minute of the game. Bangladesh’s roster is entirely home-based except for five who play for clubs in Bhutan. Myanmar defeated Bahrain 6-0 in the final match of the group.
Turkmenistan had two players based with clubs in Turkey and one playing in Lithuania. Myanmar used an entirely home based squad except for one player based in Malaysia and one in the U.S.—May Htet Lu (22) of Los Angeles Pierce Community College—who scored 10 goals and 7 assists in 20 games in last season’s college season.
Group D
In Group D, Chinese Taipei started the group with an 8-0 win over Pakistan, who we profiled in late 2023 (see: The Week in Women's Football: Exploring the Saudi Premier League ambitions and hearing from Maria Khan - Tribal Football) while host side Indonesia squeaked by Kyrgyzstan with a 66th minute goal by Isa Warps (20). Warps was born in the Netherlands and currently plays at NAC Breda, after time with KRC Genk in Belgium, but has Indonesian ancestry.
On July 2, Chinese Taipei defeated Kyrgyzstan (3-0) while Pakistan upset Indonesia 2-0, with forward Nadia Khan (24)—who was born in England and has played with historic English side Doncaster Rovers Belles since 2018—scoring the winner in the eighth minute. She moved to Pakistan’s Karachi City in July of 2024 and won the 2024 National Women Football Championship, before returning to the Belles in September of 2024. She has five goals in seven internationals for Pakistan.
On July 5, Chinese Taipei confirmed their place in the Finals with a 2-1 win over Indonesia. Su Yu-hsuan (24)—who recently moved to Zhejiang of China from Taichung Blue Whale at home and once played for a season in Japan at Ikayama Yonogo Belle—scored the opener in the 15th minute. Liu Yu-chiao (19) of New Taipei Hang Yuen scored the winner 15 minutes from time after Indonesian midfielder Helsya Maeisyaroh (20) scored an equalizer early in the second half.
Maeisyaroh played last season in Japan with FC Ryukuu in the third tier J3 league after playing at home with Persis Solo (Surakarta, Central Java), Arema (Malang, East Java) and TIRA-Persikabo (Bogor Regency, West Java). In the other match, Pakistan defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-1, with two first half goals by Mariam Mahmood (21), who was born in England and played recently with West Bromwich Albion, one of a number of diaspora that Pakistan called in for the tournament (see below).
Chinese Taipei won all three games for 9 points and had 13 goals for and only one allowed. Pakistan was second on 6 points with four goals for and nine against, host side Indonesia was third with 3 points and a -2 goal differential, while Kyrgyzstan was bottom on 0 points and a -5 goal difference.
For Chinese Taipei, all of their roster played with clubs at home except for attacker Su Yu-hsuan (24), who recently moved to Zhejiang of China.
Pakistan has been very active in bringing in their diaspora recently to help develop their team. American-born and raised team captain Maria Khan played the last two years in Saudi Arabia and is now playing with Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; she has previously played in the UAE where she worked for years (see our past column link above on Khan and Pakistan football). Pakistan had five players who currently play with clubs in England, three playing in the U.S., one in Cyprus, one in Greece, one in Vietnam and nine at home, along with one who is currently a free agent—Mariam Mahmood (21), who grew up in England and played with West Bromwich Albion.
Indonesia also had a diverse squad in terms of where players were playing their club football, with US (3, all at colleges), Philippines (2), Netherlands (2), Belgium (1), Germany (1), Japan (1) and 13 with clubs at home.
For Kyrgyzstan, for their pre-tournament friendlies in May against Kazakhstan away, falling 2-1 and 3-1 to the UEFA member, all but one player were based with clubs in Kyrgyzstan, with one goalkeeper playing in Kazakhstan.
Group E
Vietnam took an early advantage on the first day of group play on June 29 with a 7-0 win over Maldives, while United Arab Emirates was surprisingly held to a goalless draw by Guam, the U.S. territory in the Pacific. On July 2, Vietnam defeated UAE 6-0 and Guam bested Maldives 3-0, with a hat trick by Rebecca Bartosh (24), who was born in Canada and played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh and Kansas State University.
On July 5, host side Vietnam advanced to the final with a 4-0 win over Guam, with Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (31)—who joined Thai Nguyen T&T last season after 14 seasons at Ho Chi Minh City—scoring two goals within the first 25 minutes and midfielder Nguyen Thi Van (28) of Than Khoang San—where she has played for a decade—scoring the ultimate winner in the first minute over Guam. UAE beat Maldives 5-0 with a hat trick by Salha Al-Zaabi (24) of Abu Dhabi Country Club in the other match.
UAE head coach Vera Pauw (62), who took the Republic of Ireland to the 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals in Australia/New Zealand, as well as coached the national sides of Scotland, her native Netherlands, Russia and South Africa, while she was a technical advisor to Thailand in the first half of 2019 for their WWC finals campaign in France, was appointed to the job in January. It was her first job since her contract was not renewed by Ireland in 2023 after the WWC Finals. It will be interesting to see if UAE keeps her in charge or looks elsewhere after their surprisingly weak performance in this group.
Vietnam advanced to its tenth Women’s Asian Cup Finals, having finished in sixth place in both 2014 and 2022 for their best finishes. They finished Group E with 9 points from three games, with 17 goals scored and none allowed. UAE and surprising Guam finished tied for second on four points and a -1 GD, with Maldives last on 0 points, with no goals scored and 15 allowed.
Vietnam had a side drawn completely from domestic clubs, which is typical for this nation with a vibrant local women’s league. UAE utilized domestic players except for three from U.S. colleges from their diaspora, based on a roster from a 31 player camp in April to play Philippines in Dubai, losing both games (4-1 and 4-0). U.S.-born Mia Lindborg learned soccer while living in Abu Dhabi as a youth and is now with Seton Hill University women’s team in Pennsylvania. She moved in second grade from Nashville, Tennessee with her parents to Abu Dhabi as her father, who worked at the famed Cleveland Clinic, was given the role of developing a new facility in the country.
She said: “It was crazy because I remember telling my dad, ‘No! I don’t want to move. I don’t want to leave my friends,’ I loved (Abu Dhabi) automatically. Obviously, I missed my friends … but I loved it. I think I didn’t even want to go back to Tennessee during summers because I liked it so much.” She also wanted to point out that she felt perfectly safe and comfortable as a women in UAE: “I’ve never had one bad experience there as a woman. I feel like it’s twisted in the media. Being a woman over there, it’s perfectly fine as it would be here. There was never one point in my life where I ever felt threatened or anything.”
Lindborg is studying psychology in college and afterwards, she hopes to land a job somewhere in Europe or “back home in Abu Dhabi.” She should be a fixture in their national team at least for the next few years.
Guam Masakada head coach Kimberly Sherman called up 23 players for the 2026 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, during the 50th anniversary of the Guam Football Association.
For Guam, defender True Dydasco (26) grew up in Hawaii and played at the University of Oregon. Her sister is Caprice Dydasco (31), who played for the U.S. with youth national teams and is currently with Bay FC in the NWSL. She was the NWSL Defender of the Year in 2021 while with Gotham FC.
Prior to the tournament, Guam took part in a short training camp that included a friendly match against Cambodia in Phnom Penh, with the host country winning 1-0.
Group F
In another group with two teams firing home plenty of goals in their first matches, host side Uzbekistan defeated Sri Lanka 10-0 on June 29, with four goals by Nilufar Kudratova (28), who plays at home with Sevinch. Diyorakhon Khabibullaeva (25) scored a hat trick for Uzbekistan and has 39 goals in 34 matches as of July 5—the final game of the tournament—and she scored eight goals in 20 matches with Trabzonspor of Turkey’s Super League in 2024-25.
In the other match, Nepal defeated Laos 9-0 with four goals from their French-based forward Sabitra Bhandari (29), who we featured last year (see: The Week in Women's Football: Celebrating Barbra Banda's Orlando arrival; deep analysis on India - Tribal Football). Bhandari is now playing with Guingamp in France, scoring 7 goals in 29 games, and has 66 goals in 60 national team matches as of July 6. She has also played in Israel, India and at home in Nepal.
On July 2, Uzbekistan defeated Laos 7-0 and Nepal defeated Sri Lanka 8-0, with Bhandari scoring a hat trick. Nepal and Uzbekistan then played for an AFC Women’s Asian Cup Championship finals spot, as both teams had 6 points and were even on goal differential (+17), in their last match on July 5. After a 3-3 tie after 120 minutes, Uzbekistan won on penalties (4-2) to advance to the Asian Finals for the sixth time.
The incredible Bhandari scored a hat trick, leading Nepal back from a 3-1 halftime deficit with two goals within two minutes in the last 20 minutes of an enthralling match. Just before the break during first half stoppage time, after midfielder Nozimakhon Ergasheva (24) of Bunyodkor picked up her second yellow card and expulsion with a bad foul from behind to take down Sabitra Bhandari when she was in full stride as she broke out of her own half. It was entertaining to watch as the referee, Miu Sone of Japan, searched through all of her pockets before finding her cards—maybe a fan had some extra ones to loan her—it was not a good look. In the penalty kick session, Bhandari then missed the first penalty which hit a goalpost, while midfielder Maftuna Shoyimova (26) of Sevinch in Uzbekistan, scored the third goal in the 39th minute and the first penalty.
Goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar (23)—who plays with Tribhuvan Army Football Club of Kathmandu, Nepal—took the fifth penalty kick but it was too close to the Uzbekistan goalkeeper and the host side advanced to the AFC Finals 4-2 on penalties.
Magar was a hero last year against India in the 2024 SAFF Women’s Championship Semi-Final, when she saved two penalties as Nepal won (4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 tie). Bangladesh—who qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Finals in early 2026 in Australia (see Group C above)—defeated Nepal for the Southeast Asian Football Federation title (2-1) in Kathmandu.
This shows that these regional women’s national team tournaments in Asia should continue to be supported as they are clearing having a developmental effect on teams in the region, with Bangladesh and India (Group B) winning their groups, Nepal (Group G) just missing out on the finals and Bhutan opening Group A with wins over Singapore (3-2) and Lebanon (2-1). Note: We will wrap-up the late-starting Group A in next week’s column.
For the Group F final table standings, Uzbekistan and Nepal both finished the group undefeated with seven points, each scoring 20 goals and allowing 3 and tied on goal difference with +17. Laos finished third on 3 points with a -14 goal differential and Sri Lanka was fourth with no points, no goals and 20 goals allowed.
Uzbekistan had only one player from a club abroad (in Turkey) when they played India twice in Bengaluru on May 30 and June 3, winning each game 1-0. Nepal had one player each playing abroad in Bhutan, France, Greece and UAE.
Group G
Philippines got off to a great start to the tournament on June 29 with a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia, with team captain Jaclyn Sawicki (32) scoring the winner in the 16th minute. After playing with Western United in Australia, Sawicki is now playing with Calgary Wild in the new NSL—she is Canadian-born and grew up on Vancouver Island. We plan to catch up with Jaclyn Sawicki later this summer to talk about the Philippines qualification campaign and the first year of the new Canadian league. Hong Kong and Cambodia played to a 1-1 tie on the first matchday, a damaging result to the home side.
On July 2, Philippines blasted Cambodia 6-0 while Hong Kong edged Saudia Arabia 1-0. Alexa Pino (18), who plays at the University of South Carolina and grew up in Connecticut, scored a goal and Meryll Serrano (27), known in Norway as Meryll Abrahamsen, scored two goals for Philippines—both players also scored in their first game win. Pino now has two goals in five senior caps as of July 5 since her debut in 2024, while Serrano has eight goals in 24 matches as of July 2 since her 2022 national team debut.
On July 5, another host side advanced as expected as Philippines defeated Hong Kong 1-0, as Chandler McDaniel (27) scored the winner in the fourth minute, her second goal of the tournament. McDaniel missed the 2023 WWC through injury. She grew up in California and played at Virginia Tech and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She then went to Austria with second tier side FC Pinzgau Saalfelden, in Costa Rica with Dimas Escazu and recently with Stallion Laguna in the Philippines. Cambodia defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the other match.
Philippines advanced with 3 wins for 9 points and scored 10 goals with none allowed, while Hong Kong and Cambodia were tied for second with four points, with Hong Kong having a better goal differential (0 vs. -5), and Saudi Arabia finished fourth with 0 points, but only allowed 6 goals across the three games, scoring once.
Philippines’ 26 player roster for the tournament again drew players from clubs around the world, leveraging their vast diaspora, but have ten players with Philippine clubs, which shows the results of their Federation’s focus on developing the local league, which is attracting players throughout the region.
Seven of their squad were with teams in the U.S. (5 in colleges, one in high school and one in the USL Super League), three from Canada (2 in the new NSL and one in the semipro League1 Ontario), one each from clubs in Australia, England, Norway and Sweden, and two are currently without clubs:
Midfielder Quinley Quezada (28), who grew up in the States, played at University of California-Riverside and with clubs in Chinese Taipei, Japan, Serbia, Australia (Perth Glory) and Philippines (Manila Digger FC). She has 23 goals in 65 matches as of July 2, 2025
Defender Sofia Harrison Wunsch (26), also grew up in the States, played at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. After spending a short time with Werder Bremen in Germany, she played with Stallion Laguna in Philippines in 2024. She has three goals in 52 matches as of July 2, 2025.
Hong Kong primarily utilized players from local clubs except for two from Japan, one from England, one from China and one from Chinese Taipei. For Cambodia, all of their players were based with local clubs except for one each in Thailand and one in college in Canada—Chhiv Selena (23) at Concordia College in Quebec and CS Saint-Laurent Ligue1 Quebec semipro side. Chivv Selena also plays futsal in Canada and helped local side Underdogs FC from ARS Bourassa win the Quebec futsal championships earlier this year (March) and qualify for the national finals. In April, at the national championships in Regina, Saskatchewan, Team Saskatoon SK Impact of Saskatchewan won the championship for the second consecutive season by defeating Underdogs FC in extra time, after a 4-4 tie.
For Saudi Arabia, for friendly games in Khobar in early April, for games against Sri Lanka (2-0 win) and Hong Kong (a 2-1 defeat), their roster was primarily based on players from the Kingdom, leveraging their three-year-old professional league, except for midfielder Ameera Abualsamh of Ottawa, Canada, who plays at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (near Niagara Falls).
Group H
DPR Korea started Group H with a 10-0 win over host side Tajikistan on June 29, with Kim Kyong-yong (23) of Naekohyang Sport Club scoring the winner in the ninth minute, and then three more goals in the first half, for a total of four. Malaysia edged Palestine 1-0 in the other match. On July 2, Korea DPR again scored 10 goals in a shutout of Palestine while Malaysia stayed unbeaten with a 92nd goal by Hanrietta Justune (22) of Sabah FC over Tajikistan (1-0).
On July 5, DPR Korea clinched their AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals spot with a 6-0 win over Malaysia, with forward Kim Kyong-yong (23)—who plays with Naegohyang Sport Club and played for DPR Korea in the 2018 U-17 WWC in Uruguay as well as the U-20 WWC in France—scoring a second half hat-trick. Palestine defeated Tajikistan 3-0, with two goals by their German-born forward Nour Yussef (19), who plays at Viktoria Berlin. She also plays international futsal for Palestine and qualified to play for Germany as well as Palestine and Albania through FIFA’s ancestry rules.
DPR Korea qualified for their 11th tournament and they are reigning FIFA Women’s World Cup champions at both the U-17 and U-20 levels; they have also won the Asian Championship in 2001, 2003 and 2008 and should not be underestimated at next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals.
Using an entirely home based roster is an advantage as the football federation can suspend the local league for months long training camps if they choose, turning the DPR Korea national team effectively into a club team—a huge benefit compared with other nations where their players could be dispersed among half a dozen nations’ clubs or even more. DPR Korea finished Group H undefeated with 9 points and 26 goals scored and none allowed. Malaysia was second with 6 points, Palestine was third on 3 points and host side Tajikistan finished fourth with no points, with no goals and 14 goals allowed.
Malaysia’s only player with a club abroad was goalkeeper Nurul Azurin (25), who joined KFF Vllaznia of Albania for the 2025-26 season from Sabah. Tajikistan used an entirely local team except for one player based in Russia.
For Palestine’s two friendlies against Lebanon on May 29 and June 1—a 1-1 tie in Beirut and a 2-1 defeat in Jounieh, Lebanon—they used a squad of 19 players who were based with clubs in Egypt (5), U.S. (3), Canada (2), Israel (2), Palestine (2), Chile (1), Jordan (1), Germany (1), Lebanon (1), and Sweden (1). Their final roster of 25 players for the tournament had players from: Egypt (5—four with Al Ahly and one with FC Masar), U.S. (5—in clubs/colleges), Israel (3), Jordan (2), Palestine (2), Canada (2—in League1 Ontario), Chile (1), Germany (1), Lebanon (1), Netherlands (1), Sweden (1) and Turkey (1).
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey