Football
AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers: India drawn alongside higher-ranked Thailand
India is set to play Thailand, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, and Iraq at the qualifiers in Thailand between June 23 to July 5.
Indian Women Football Team. (Photo Credits: AIFF)
The India senior women's team were drawn alongside Thailand, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, and Iraq in Group B of the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers, following the draw conducted at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Thailand will host Group B of the Qualifiers between June 23 and July 5 in a centralised single round-robin format. The group winners will qualify for the final tournament, scheduled to be staged across three host cities in Australia from March 1 to 26, 2026.
Teams were divided into five pots as per seedings based on the FIFA Women’s World Ranking published on March 6, 2025. The Indian women's team, ranked 69th in the world, were placed in Pot B.
Eight tickets to the 21st edition of the continental showpiece are up for grabs as 34 teams will compete to join hosts Australia and the top three sides from the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 — defending champions China PR, runners-up Korea Republic, and third-placed Japan.
China is the defending champion of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, having won the title in the last edition hosted by India in 2022.
The top six teams at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 will qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027.
