India have been clubbed with powerhouse Japan, former champions Chinese Taipei and Vietnam in Group C of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup, the continent's showpiece football tournament, to be held in Australia next year.
The draw ceremony for the 12-team tournament to be run from March 1 to 21, 2026 was held at the Sydney Town Hall with Indian midfielder Sangita Basfore being one of the three draw assistants. The 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each.
India will begin their campaign with a match against Vietnam on March 4, 2026 at the Perth Rectangular Stadium. They will then face Japan on March 7 at the same venue, before playing against Chinese Taipei on March 10 at the Western Sydney Stadium.
The top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed sides will advance to the quarter-finals. The four semi-finalists will book their tickets to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, while the losing sides from the quarter-finals will advance to the playoffs, where two more spots at the global showpiece will be at stake.
Women's World Cup winners in 2011, Japan are the highest-ranked Asian team in the FIFA chart at seventh. They had won the Women’s Asian Cup titles in 2014 and 2018, but were denied a hat-trick after losing to eventual champions China in the semi-finals in the 2022 edition held in India inside a Covid-19 bubble.
Vietnam, ranked 37th, will be targeting a spot at the 2027 Women’s World Cup after making their debut at the 2023 edition. They topped the play-off round among losing quarterfinalists in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup in India to make it to the 2023 Women's World Cup. Chinese Taipei, ranked 42nd, had won the last of their three AFC Women's Asian Cup titles in 1980. India are currently ranked 70th in the world, the lowest in the group. China, the defending champions, will be looking for their record-extending 10th title.
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