We then look at Bangladesh’s WNT, which will debut at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next March, as we begin our previews of the 12 finalists, building up to what should be a fantastic tournament. We finally look at the results for the second qualifying round of the inaugural UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, which next advances to the knockout stage (Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final), all played over two legs and present the draw for those stages from UEFA.
2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League.
In late August, the first round of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League was held, with four groups of four teams and one group with three sides. This is the second year of the competition that was such a resounding success last year.
In Group A, host club ISPE of Myanmar finished with three wins for nine points, with 20 goals for and only one allowed, to win the group. Stallion Laguna of Philippines also advanced to the final following a second place finish on six points with a 20-4 goals for/goals against record. Stallion Laguna moved on as the best second place side among the five group runners-up (see below). Khovd Western (Mongolia) finished with three points and Strykers (Guam) had zero points, the latter scoring twice and allowing 27 goals in their three matches.
In Group B, host side Nasaf of Uzbekistan advanced to the finals on nine points, over College of Asian Scholars of Thailand (six points), Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia (three points) and APF of Nepal (zero points). Last year, Nasaf finished second in their three team first round group behind Sabah of Malaysia by one point, while Al Nassr as host finished second to Abu Dhabi Country Club of UAE, with four teams in their group.
Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia (Cristiano Ronaldo’s team on the men’s side) had seven imports, including two from Brazil: defender Kathellen (29)—who joined the club after two years at Real Madrid in Spain and previously played three seasons with Bordeaux in France—and forward Duda Francelino (30), who joined this season from Flamengo in Rio. Their other imports were:
France midfielder Nesrine Bahlouli (22) from Bordeaux, who also played at AC Milan and Lyon. She has been capped at multiple youth levels through the U-23s for France.
DR Congo senior international forward Ruth Kipoli (28) is in her second season with Al-Nassr, after playing in Turkey with ALG Spor and Galatasaray. She also played with Simba Queens of Tanzania.
Iraq forward Shokhan Salihi (25) is in her fourth season with Al Nassr. She is a full international in futsal and the 11-a-side game for Iraq.
Portugal midfielder Andreia Faria (25) won five league titles with Benfica since 2018. She played for Portugal at multiple youth international levels and 31 times for the senior side after the June international window, scoring twice.
Tanzanian international forward Clara Luvanga (20) joined Al Nassr from Logrono in Spain during the latter half of the 2023 season.
In Group C, Lion City Sailers of Singapore won the group with nine points, while Etihad of Jordan was second on six points, with Sdyushor SI-Asiagoal of Kyrgyzstan and Kelana United (host team) of Malaysia both finishing with one point.
For Etihad of Jordan, they signed forward Cidalia ‘Ninika’ Cuta (30) of Mozambique ahead of the AFC Champions League matches. She has scored 6 goals in 16 internationals for Mozambique and played at home with Costa do Sol, Young Buffaloes in Eswatini in Southern Africa, Yanga Princess in Tanzania, ZFK Minsk in Belarus (scoring 23 goals in 27 games in 2024-25) and AS FAR in Morocco. She has won league titles in Eswatini and Morocco.
In Group D, Neagohyang of DPR Korea won the group with nine points over Kaohsiung Attackers (Chinese Taipei) with six points, RTC (Royal Thimphu College) of Bhutan was third with three points, and Master of Laos, the host side, finished in fourth with 0 points, scoring no goals and allowing 21 in their three matches. Neagohyang kept three shutouts in their group matches, scoring 23 goals. They have won the last two DPR Korea Women’s Premier League titles and three of the last four league crowns. They are coached by Ri Yu-il, who is also the DPR Korea WNT head coach; we expect to see many from the club at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup early next year in Australia for DPR Korea.
In Group E, India’s East Bengal won the group with four points over Kitchee of Hong Kong (two points), with host side Phnom Penh Crown of Cambodia finishing with one point.
Hong Kong international midfielder Wai Ki Cheung (34) once played 10 games last with Brisbane Roar in the Ninja A-League in 2017-18 and has been with Kitchee since 2017. She is a full international for both Hong Kong’s futsal and 11-a-side teams. For Phnom Penh Crown, Cambodian international Poeurn Kunthea scored once during the tournament. She debuted for Cambodia in 2018 and, at the end of 2024, she had scored six goals in 23 international matches.
Stallion Laguna of Philippines advanced as the best second place side, with a +3 goal difference after deleting results against fourth place sides for the teams from Groups A-D, since Group E only had three teams. College of Asian Scholars (+1 GD), Etihad (0 GD) and Kaoshsiung Attackers (-3 GD) all had three points in the final calculation while Kitchee had two points (0 GD).
Note: Abu Dhabi Country Club of the UAE withdrew before the tournament started.
For the Asian club finals next March in Australia, six teams advanced directly:
Melbourne City of Australia
Suwon of Korea Republic—debut
Tokyo Verdy Beleza of Japan—debut
Wuhan Jiangda of China—2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League title winners
Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam
Bam Khatoon Kowsar of the Women’s Football League of Iran
The Final Groups are set as follows:
Group A
Melbourne City
Ho Chi Minh City (host side)
Stallion Laguna
Lion City Sailors
Group B
Wuhan Jiangda (host side)
Bam Khatoon
East Bengal
Nasaf
Group C
Suwon of Korea Republic
Tokyo Verdy Beleza of Japan
Naegohyang of DRP Korea
ISPE (host side)
The top two sides in each group and the top two of the third place teams advance to the quarterfinals.
Bangladesh looks to their debut at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Final in Australia, with Women’s World Cup Finals hopes in 2027 very much alive
Bangladesh was one of the surprise stories of last summer’s 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers, defeating Bahrain (7-0), Turkmenistan (7-0) and favorites and group host side Myanmar (2-1) in Group C (see our column earlier this year: The Week in Women's Football: Asian Cup qualifying; recruiting for national teams - TribalFootball.com). It shouldn’t have come as a complete shock as they entered the tournament as two-time reigning champions of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Cup, defeating the host nation Nepal in both finals in 2022 and 2024 (3-1 and 2-1, respectively).
Ahead of their first match with Bahrain on June 29 in Rangoon, Bangladesh had two ties and two defeats in games in 2025, falling to UAE in two friendlies in Dubai in late February/early March by identical 3-1 scores and then tying Indonesia (0-0) and host Jordan (2-2) in Amman, Jordan at the Women’s Tri-Nation Cup at the end of May and early June. Ahead of the Nations Cup, they will play two games in Thailand at the end of this month against Thailand, who lost at home to fellow SAFF member India 2-1 in the final Group B qualifier and failed to make the 2026 Asian Finals. Thailand will still be a good test for Bangladesh as they made the WWC Finals in both 2015 in Canada and 2019 in France. Bangladesh then finishes the year by hosting a Tri-Nations Cup tournament in Dhaka against 2026 Women’s Cup Finalists Vietnam and Azerbaijan of UEFA.
In Australia, they meet China on March 3 in Sydney, stay in the harbor city to face DPR Korea on March 6 and then play fellow debutants Uzbekistan on March 9 in Perth. The latter match is likely their best opportunity to win three points and finish as one of two of the best third place teams out of the three groups of four teams each. Making the quarterfinals assures them either of a 2027 WWC Final spot, or more likely, one of two Intercontinental Playoff berths, where they will have a chance at three additional Finals spots among 10 nations. Perhaps they can schedule a friendly early in 2026 against a Northeast Asian side to become more familiar with the style and speed of play from this sub-region as—besides DPR Korea and China—Japan, Korea Republic, Chinese Taipei and Philippines all qualified for the Finals in Australia.
Ritu Porna Chakma (21) of Paro FC in Bhutan scored five goals during the three group matches in AFC Nations Cup qualifiers, including two braces; she scored her team’s two goals in their crucial 2-1 win over Myanmar. She joined Paro FC this season, scoring 13 goals in 8 matches to date, after playing last season on loan at Royal Thimphu College in Bhutan, from Nasrin Sporting Club at home in Dhaka. Ritu Porna also has scored 13 international goals from 31 games.
Forward Tohura Khatun (22) added three goals in the tournament; she joined Royal Thimphu College this year from ARB College SC at home and has 15 goals in 29 internationals after the July qualifiers. Shamsunnahar Jr. (21) is also with RTC of Bhutan, joining from Bashundhara Kings in Dhaka, and added three goals in Bangladesh’s three games.. She has scored 7 goals in 27 internationals as of July 5, 2025.
The team’s head coach is Peter Butler (59) from Halifax, England. He played for a number of clubs at home, notably Southend United, Halifax Town, Cambridge United and West Bromwich United. He has coached primarily abroad for 25 years, including men’s national teams in Botswana and Liberia. He was coaching in the country when he took over the Bangladesh WNT in 2024 on an interim basis, guiding the team to the SAFF title in 2024 and this summer to the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup Finals—he had never coached a women’s side before taking on this position.
Someone who was not on the side in Myanmar but will certainly be fighting for a place in Australia is Bangladesh international midfielder/winger Sanjida Akhter (24); she played at the club level in the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League last season with East Bengel of India (scoring once) and joined East Thimphu of Bhutan for the 2025 season. With over 30 senior appearances since her debut in 2016, she is seen as a leader of the women’s game in her country despite being only 24, as she started playing at the age of 12 for the national U-14 side and a year later for the U-16’s.
After Bangladesh’s first SAFF title in 2022, Akhter posted on Facebook on September 19, 2022: “YES! YES! YES! We made history & clinched our maiden SAFF Women's Championship title with a 3-1 victory over Nepal. We are South Asian Champion Now. Thanks for your supporting.” The post was wildly popular in the county and prompted replies such as by one young woman, which shows the importance of this team as an inspiration for young women in the country: “I always believed if you keep moving on without caring what others have to say, you will achieve success if your intentions are right! Thank you for making the world believe that Bangladeshi women can rule in any sector. We all are very proud of you girls as a nation. Salute:”
Akhter told the Daily Star in Bangladesh at the time that she and other women has faced strong barriers on their football journey, explaining that: “All of my teammates are from rural areas and came this far despite ridicule from society. When we started playing with shorts, people around us would hurl abuse towards us and our family. They may not have understood the impact of their comments, but they should never have said such things. I have heard a lot of ridicule, even about how my parents would arrange my marriage. However, some people praised us (as) the young girls who brought electricity and development to Kalsindur village through football.”
She said felt that the future generation shouldn’t face what she and her teammates have, including players who are the only source of income in their families, having to see off a sister’s jewelry and other setbacks: “I have seen comments on social media from people wanting advice on how to get their girls involved in football. I don’t think anybody will create barriers for aspiring girls anymore.”
Interestingly, she described an average day of training for football: “Generally, we wake up at 5:00 am for a two-hour training session. Each players gets a GPS and must record between 5,000-11,000 meters of movement on a normal day. There are of course other exercises. After returning to the dormitory, we have a gym session for one hour. There is also yoga, studies and tactical sessions. The day is full of football-related activities.”
Bangladesh international Sanjida Akhter, when she played at home with Bashundhara Kings. After a spell with Dhaka side Nasrin Sporting Club, she moved to India to play with East Bengel in 2024 and is now in Bhutan with Thimphu City FC. Photo courtesy of the Daily Star of Bangladesh.
One question regarding this exciting stage of Bangladesh’s WNT qualification for the Asian Cup Finals is whether they will start to recruit their diaspora from around the world, particularly if they qualify for the WWC Finals or the Intercontinental Playoffs, as we discussed two weeks ago for Iran (see: The Week in Women's Football: Lily Nabet exclusive; Champions League qualifying review - TribalFootball.com). Bangladesh had five of their squad in Myanmar playing in Bhutan, but they developed as players at home. Bringing in imports can be a huge expense for developing women’s teams for their federations, but it could be a great benefit to bring in some top talent from abroad, to add to their competitive base.
2025-26 UEFA Women’s Europe League Second Round Qualifiers
Second qualifying round ties results—First Legs played on October 7/8 and Second Legs on October 15/16
Häcken (SWE)* vs GKS Katowice (POL)* (4-0, 3-1; 7-1 on aggregate)
Sparta Praha (CZE)* vs Ferencváros (HUN)* (0-0, 5-0; 5-0 on aggregate)
Inter (ITA) vs Vllaznia (ALB) (7-0, 5-0; 12-0 on aggregate)
GC Frauenfussball/Grasshopper (SWE) vs Ajax (NED) (0-0, 1-2; 1-2 on aggregate)
Sporting CP (POR)* vs Rosengård (SWE)* (3-0, 2-2; 5-2 on aggregate)
FC Minsk (BLR)* vs PSV Eindhoven (NED) (0-2; 0-2 on aggregate) **
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)* vs Slovácko (SVK) (4-0, 1-0; 5-0 on aggregate)
Vorskla Poltava (UKR)* vs Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)* (1-1, 0-1; 1-2 on aggregate) ***
Breidablik (ISL)* vs Spartak Subotica (SRB) (4-0, 1-1; 5-1 on aggregate)
Gintra (LTU)* vs Nordsjælland (DEN) (1-0, 0-5; 1-5 on aggregate)
Anderlecht (BEL) vs Braga (POR)* (1-1, 3-2 after extra time; 4-3 on aggregate)
YB (Young Boys Bern) Frauen (SUI)* vs SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH) (2-0, 1-0; 3-0 on aggregate)
HB Køge (DEN) vs Glasgow City (SCO) (2-1, 3-5; 5-6 on aggregate)
Slavia Praha (CZE)* vs Austria Wien (AUT)* (2-1, 1-2 after extra time; 3-3 on aggregate—3-5 on penalties)
Mura (SVN)* vs Dinamo-BSUPC (BLR)* (2-0, 1-2; 3-2 on aggregate)
Hammarby (SWE)* vs Brann (NOR)* (4-1, 1-1; 5-1 on aggregate)
* Transferred from Women’s Champions League into this round
** This tie was held as a one leg tie in Tirana, Albania after Minsk couldn’t get visas to Amsterdam.
*** Both games were held in Hjorring due to the war in Ukraine.
In an exciting second leg, host side Glasgow City eliminated HB Koge with two goals within two minutes at the end of the game to win the match (5-3) and the tie (6-5). Scottish youth international defender Emma Brownlie (32) scored in the 90th minute and Scottish youth international Lisa Forrest (19)—an academy graduate who is signed through the 2028-29 season—scored the winner in the 92nd minute, but City had to survive four more minutes of extra time.
In the second leg held on October 12, Mura’s Slovenian international Ana Milovic (24) scored in the 67th minute for their 3-2 aggregate win, even though they lost the game 2-1 to Dinamo-BSUPC of Belarus.
Joy Ogochuckwu (22) of Nigeria—a youth international who has been with Fortuna since the 2021-22 season, was the Danish league’s Player of the Year last season and led the league in scoring with 22 goals for the league and cup double winners—scored the deciding goal in the 14th minute as Fortuna Hjorring of Denmark defeated Vorskla Poltava of Ukraine 1-0 in the second leg and 2-1 on aggregate.
Anderlecht of Belgium won the second leg match 3-2 against Braga of Portugal after extra time to take the tie (4-3) as France’s Amelie Delabre (24)—who has been capped from the U-16 through the U-23 levels—scored three minutes into the first extra time period and then again in the last minute of extra time in an enthralling match.
For the PSV Eindhoven of Netherlands versus FC Minsk of Belarus tie, both legs were originally set to be held in Eindhoven—as was done with Vorskla Poltava of Ukraine in their tie with Fortuna Hjorring of Denmark. The Belarus players were denied visas to the Netherlands—as a result of tensions with the ongoing war in Ukraine—so a one leg tie was held in Triana, Albania in front of virtually no one in the stands. PSV had the advantage in attack throughout the match (9 vs. 1 for shots, 4 vs. 0 for shots on goal and 7 vs. 1 for corners), but the break-through took some time as Lore Jacobs (20), a Belgium youth international in her second season at PSV, gave her side the lead in the 47th minute and then substitute Liz Rijsbergen (20), a Dutch youth international, scored in the 92nd minute to secure the tie.
Slovacko, Spartak Subotica, HB Koge, Grasshoppers, Anderlecht and Ajax, who all participated in this round, were among the 12 teams that started in the Europa League this season. (see: The Week in Women's Football: Lily Nabet exclusive; Champions League qualifying review - TribalFootball.com). Only Anderlecht and Ajax advanced to the next round, while Koge and Grasshoppers missed out on a knockout round slot by only one goal, with Grasshoppers meeting Ajax.
For Czech Republic side Slovacko’s roster—as this round were the first games that they played in Europe this season—they had six imports: three from Slovakia and three from USA:
Midfielder Laura Govin (23), who played at the University of Colorado-Boulder and Boston College.
Midfielder Kennedy Jones (22), who played at Elon University in North Carolina.
Forward Sydnie Thibodaux (22), who played at Auburn University.
2025-26 Europa Cup Knockout Draw (on October 17, 2025)
Women’s Europa Cup round of 16 draw for games to be held on November 11-12 and November 19-20 is as follows:
AFC Ajax (NED) vs Hammarby IF (SWE)
Glasgow City FC (SCO) vs Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL) vs FK Austria Wien (AUT)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) vs BSC Young Boys (SUI)
BK Häcken FF (SWE) vs FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Breidablik (ISL) vs Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)
FC Nordsjælland (DEN) vs ŽNK Mura (SVN)
PSV Eindhoven Vrouwen (NED) vs Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
First named team is at home in the first leg
The rest of the knockout stage paths were determined as well:
Women’s Europa Cup knockout bracket
Quarter-finals (February 11/12 & 18/19)
1: Glasgow City FC (SCO) / Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) vs AFC Ajax (NED) / Hammarby IF (SWE)
2: AC Sparta Praha (CZE) / BSC Young Boys (SUI) vs RSC Anderlecht (BEL) / FK Austria Wien (AUT)
3: BK Häcken FF (SWE) / FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) vs Breidablik (ISL) / Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)
4: PSV Eindhoven Vrouwen (NED) / Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) vs FC Nordsjælland (DEN) / ŽNK Mura (SVN)
Semi-finals (March 24/25 & April 1/2)
1: Winner quarter-final 2 vs Winner quarter-final 1
2: Winner quarter-final 4 vs Winner quarter-final 3
Final (April 25 or 26 & May 2 or 3)
Winner semi-final 1 vs Winner semi-final 2
First named team at home in first leg
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