&w=3840&q=100)
India drawn in Group C for AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026; check out full schedule
India will make their first appearance in the Women's Asian Cup since 2003. AIFF
will face a tough challenge at the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 after being drawn in Group C alongside Japan, Vietnam, and Chinese Taipei. The Final Draw for the tournament took place at Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday, July 29, 2025.
The Indian team was represented by coach Crispin Chettri and midfielder Sangita Basfore in the draw ceremony. This is the first time India will take part in the tournament in 22 years.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
India face tough challenge in Group C
The Blue Tigresses will kick off their campaign on March 4, 2026, against Vietnam at the Perth Rectangular Stadium. Their second group match will be against powerhouse Japan on March 7 at the same venue. India's final group stage match is scheduled for March 10 against Chinese Taipei at the Western Sydney Stadium in Sydney.
India are currently ranked 70th in the FIFA Women's World Rankings. Their group opponents are all higher-ranked - Japan (7th), Vietnam (37th), and Chinese Taipei (42nd).
More from Football
Also Read:
What is the format?
The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams, will move on to the quarter-finals of the tournament. The winners of the quarter-finals will automatically qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 in Brazil.
The teams that lose in the quarter-finals will still have a chance as they will play in play-offs to fight for the last two World Cup spots given to AFC. The two teams that lose in these play-offs will get one more chance through the inter-confederation play-offs.
The quarter-final matches will be held between March 13 and 15, while the semi-finals are set for March 17 and 18, in Sydney and Perth. The final will take place on March 21 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The World Cup play-off matches for the quarter-final losers will be played in the Gold Coast on March 19.
Check out the full schedule
Final Draw
Group A: Australia, Korea Republic, IR Iran, Philippines
Group B: DPR Korea, China PR, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan
Group C: Japan, Vietnam, India, Chinese Taipei
India's fixtures
March 4, 2026: Vietnam vs India (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth)
March 7, 2026: India vs Japan (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth)
March 10, 2026: India vs Chinese Taipei (Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
22 minutes ago
- India.com
India vs Pakistan: ACC announces host cities for Asia Cup 2025, cities are...
India vs Pakistan. (PIC - X) New Delhi: The Asia Cup 2025 is starting from September 9. The high-voltage Asia Cup 2025 match between India and Pakistan will be played in Dubai on September 14. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Saturday (August 2) confirmed on X that the two host cities of the 2025 Asia Cup will be Dubai and Abu Dhabi. When is the Tournament taking place? The tournament will be played from September 9 to 28. India's first Group A match will be against the United Arab Emirates on September 10 in Dubai, and the last match of the group stage will be played against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi. The ACC has posted the full schedule of this tournament on its website. Where is the full schedule? #ACCMensAsiaCup2025 confirmed to be hosted in Dubai and Abu Dhabi! ️ The continent's premier championship kicks off on 9th September Read More: — AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) August 2, 2025 How will the matches be played? One Super Four match (between A2 and B1 on September 22) will also be held in Abu Dhabi, while the remaining five Super Four matches and the final (on September 28) will be played in Dubai. This year's edition will be played in T20 format. After the group stage, the Super Four will be held, in which the top two teams of the second round will reach the final. How can you watch the Asia Cup 2025 on TV and online? To watch the Asia Cup live in India on your television, you have to go to Star Sports Network. If you are a laptop or phone user, then for this, you have to go to the Hotstar app. This is where you will be able to enjoy the match live. The team forthe Asia Cup 2025 has not been announced. It remains to be seen which players enter the Indian team.
Hindustan Times
22 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
It was quite stressful, you have have to keep up your stamina: Divya Deshmukh on title triumph
Divya, 19, overcame Humpy in the tie-breaker after two nerve-wracking classical games ended in draws to become the first Indian woman to win the prestigious title and become a Grandmaster. HT Image "It was quite stressful. Quite difficult at least because also it's such a long event. You have to keep up your stamina. You have to be resistant and you have to show up on the board every single day to give your best. Thankfully, I was never in a situation where I had to be in a must-win (situation). So, I don't know how I would have coped with that," said Divya in an interaction posted by FIDE on social media. The Nagpur player added that though she was nervous going into the final, she wanted to give it her best shot after coming this far. "I think from an emotional perspective, maybe, but the finals was incredibly difficult. The pressure, the nerves the toll that the entire tournament was taking and the feeling like you've come so far and now you cannot go back down so I would say it was quite difficult. "I think there was always some part of me that would never give up. So I always wanted to fight, but after I lost the second match I was quite disappointed or mainly because I got a good position at the opening.. Beating an opponent like GM Dronavalli Harika in a tough quarterfinals was a key motivations which helped Divya to go all the way to the final. The match went to a tiebreak after two classical games ended in draws. Divya won both tiebreak games to advance to the semifinals. "Harika was definitely quite strong, but I think because I had gone through (some tough games) already... by the time I got to Harika, I was already quite sure. Divya said she was taking it one game at a time and only started entertaining thoughts of winning the title after she had reached the final. "At least, I never had the thoughts of winning the tournament until I was in the finals. I knew that of course there's some part of you that always, you know, wants (to be) the best, but I was just trying to survive. Divya then beat Tan Zhongyi of China in the semifinals, one of the strongest players in the world. "She was a very strong player. Very strong. That was a close match. (As for Humpy), I think she's definitely quite strong, but honestly in this tournament the know you have to be calm throughout the entire tournament." On whether achieving the GM title was bigger than winning the tournament, she said, "I think Grandmaster title is something that would have eventually come definitely come. I don't know when but it would have. So can't choose. I think the fact that both of them happen at the same time makes it all the more special. "I think maybe maybe it was destiny that I got my title in one shot and the fact that I did not even have even one (GM) norm before it and now I'm a Grandmaster. That's why I think that maybe it was meant to be.". On what her mother told her following the emotional hug after winning the title, Divya said, "She told me to have confidence in myself and to manage my time. I think motivation is not a constant factor. I think sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't, but you just have to push through it. "At least that's what I've been doing. And, what I believe in is that all I can do is give my best and I don't control the results. So, that's what I've been focusing on."
Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
5th Test: Washington Sundar's towering sixes, Mohammed Siraj's end-of-day strike set up thrilling finale at the Oval
It would be difficult for England to wake up after this traumatic day of many frustrating moments. Night watchman Akash Deep's cameo of 66 in the first session, thrice-dropped opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's hundred after lunch and the perennial thorn in England's flesh Washington Sundar four towering sixes in his 46-ball 53 to add 39 runs for the last wicket after tea. England were chasing 374 runs in the final innings of the final Test to win the series. In the first one at Leeds, they had chased down 371. The home team after a long hard day on the field looked exhausted. After India extended their second innings to 396 thanks to Washington's late bump up, England finished the day at 50/1. Mohammed Siraj would strike on the last ball of the day, shattering Zak Crawley's stumps with a full ball. England now need 324 runs to win this one and India need 9 wickets. Maybe, for one last time in this series, the cliché can be repeated. The first hour tomorrow will decide this Test and series. But lately, it isn't risk-free to predict the path of Test matches in these parts. In a contest where no one gives up, England will have to pick themselves up one more time. And getting from the bed, preferably the right side, will be their last challenge of the series. The weather forecast for Day 4 of the Test predicts rain in the second session and a virtual washout after tea. Though, the timing and intensity of the showers in England, like the Oval pitch, don't come with a guarantee. Keeping in mind the unpredictability of the pitch behaviour at Oval, India knew they had to set England a tough target. What if the ball suddenly stops swinging – like it did this morning after he was jagging around the previous evening? And to give England an intimidating target, India needed all hands on deck. Starting with the nightwatchman Akash Deep, who stuck around for most of the first session to help India nose ahead in the match. His partner Jaiswal seemed a man transformed. From the risk-taking attacker, he had turned into a good old strong and solid opener. And it didn't bother him that even Akash Deep was out-scoring him. He was making a very conscious decision to curb his instincts. After virtually every shot, Jaiswal would take a walk to the square leg area. He would defend a ball and walk the breadth of two pitches next to the central wicket. If he played and missed, he would be striding again, cut off from the world, almost in meditative mode. Jaiswal was under scrutiny and, it seems, he knew that he needed to make amends to his record on this tour. Before this Test, there was a growing feeling in the Indian dressing room that Jaiswal needed to turn up more often when the team needed him the most. In the last four Tests, Jaiswal had scored close to 400 and hit a hundred but his statistics had a dark smudge – the gulf in his first and second innings scores. 1st innings scores: 101, 87, 13, 58. 2nd innings scores: 4, 28, 0, 0. Of the 396 runs in the 8 innings he had played before the final Test, 359 had come about in the first inning and only 37 in the second. It was his two ducks in the second innings at Lord's and Manchester that had hurt the team the most. At Lord's, Jaiswal's non-contribution was felt in the team's 22-run loss and at Manchester it put additional pressure on the batsmen to follow, forcing them to play out their skins. At Oval, that trend turned upside down. After scoring 2 in the first inning, Jaiswal hit 118, not quite a flawless knock but a significant one in his young career. Last evening the left-handed opener was dropped when on 20 and 40, today again they gave him a reprieve when on 114. But Jaiswal's century was timely, it came on the series-deciding day of this gripping series between two almost equal opponents. The Oval has been lucky for India. Before the Test, Ben Stokes was ruled out because of injury and Jofra Archer was rested. But India have made their luck. The incredible resilience they showed at Manchester – KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar pulling off an unlikely draw – had made its impact. By keeping England enough on the field, England had to rest virtually their entire bowling attack. Like Jaiswal was making the many chances count, Washington too was taking calculated risks. With his innings today he made a case for himself to be promoted up the order. He also came up with a new plan of batting with tailenders, something that even the Bazballers should take note of. When the field is spread far and wide, it is easier to clear the rope by taking the aerial route rather than finding gaps. But for that, you need the eye and wrists of the Tamil Nadu all-rounder. He didn't knock around the ball and take singles on the final ball. Washington blasted over the fielder's head. There were two standout strokes – the first was his old-favourite pick-up shot that cleared fine leg and the one he belted over deep mid-wicket to complete his fifty. This was England getting their medicine. Was it the last straw on England's back in this series?
