AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers: India pump five past Iraq in third group match - Highlights
Catch all the Highlights from India's third match of the AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers against Iraq in Thailand.
Indian women take on Iraq in the third match of the 2025 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. (Photo Credits: AIFF Media)
The Indian Women's Football Team took on Iraq in their third match of the 2025 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Wednesday.
India had a solid start to the campaign, registering two consecutive wins at the AFC competition after 42 years. Firstly, they snatched a massive 13-0 against Mongolia and then doubled it up with a 4-0 win over Timor Leste.
The team maintained their top position on the leaderboard with 9 points, closely followed by Thailand, and will be aiming to continue that at their final matchday on 5th July.
As it happened:
India looked much better in the second half and added three more goals to their first-half scoreline and continued their winning run at the tournament.
Nirmala Devi and Karthika Angamuthu started the scoring in this half with two back-to-back goals from outside the box long langer shots.
Substitute Ratanbal Devi added another one in the 80th minute to take India's goal tally to five and further solidify their position in the group stage with 9 points from three matches.
India is currently leading Group B and might have a virtual knockout in their final match against Thailand on July 5th for the lone available spot for the Asian Cup 2026.
A good run from the left flank from Pyari Xaxa as she beats her marker to create a good chance for Lynda Kom.
Lynda had a clear shot on the goal but was saved by the Iraqi goalkeeper, but then Ratnabala Devi chipped the goalkeeper on the rebound shot to land India's fifth goal of the match.
India 5-0 Iraq
Nirmala Devi, after missing a similar shot in the first half, has now found the top corner from a shot just outside the penalty box, giving no chance to the goalkeeper to save it.
This was a result of constant pressure from Indian attackers on the right flank.
India 4-0 Iraq
Iraq gets a quick counterattack from the left flank to enter the Indian box, but a solid tackle from the defender ends their promising move.
India 3-0 Iraq
Karthika Angamuthu snatched onto a free ball in the midfield to find a brilliant shot towards the side, which chipped the goalkeeper and found the back of the net, increasing India's lead to 3-0.
It was a good presence of mind from Karthika to catch the Iraqi goalkeeper out of position and take her chance on goal, which resulted in another goal for India.
India 3-0 Iraq
India is leading by two goals at the halfway stage despite missing plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, which might hurt the team if it comes to goal difference to decide the winner later in the tournament.
The Iraq goalkeeper had a nightmare of a game as she allowed two goals to enter her post because she mishandled the ball on both occasions.
Meanwhile, India might not be very happy with their first half performance as the team looks a bit sloppy throughout in their attack and will be aiming to better that in next half.
Manisha took a grounded shot towards the far side, and it looked like an easy collect for the Iraqi goalkeeper, who made a meal out of it and failed to stop that from entering inside her goal.
It was Sanju who started the move as she dribbled past two Iraqi players to find a good space on the left flank, and in the end, it was an easy pass from her towards Manisha, who took a first-time shot from the edge of the box.
India 2-0 Iraq
India got a couple of chances on the far side, but first Nirmala and then Manisha both failed to land their shots on the target, converting a promising chance to a goalkick.
India 1-0 Iraq
Nirmala takes a long-range shot because the Indian team is unable to breach the physical play of Iraq's team's defense. However, her shot wasn't on target and went flying past the far post.
India 1-0 Iraq
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