Coach Mai Duc Chung talks about the Vietnamese women's team's chances when facing Japan

Head coach Mai Duc Chung has set a suitable target for the Vietnamese women's team, when they are in the same group with Japan at the 2026 Asian Women's Football Championship.

The Vietnamese women's team has every chance to go deep in the 2026 Asian Women's Championship - Photo: NGOC LE

"In my opinion, Japan is still the strongest team in Asia. I think they will win first place in Group C. The Vietnamese women's team will have to compete for second place with the remaining two opponents, India and Chinese Taipei," coach Mai Duc Chung quickly shared after the draw ceremony for the 2026 Asian Women's Cup on the afternoon of July 29 in Australia.

Mr. Chung continued: "These opponents are all strong and will be difficult challenges. We need to have thorough preparation and high determination in the upcoming final round."

As the second seeded team at the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the Vietnamese women's team was drawn into Group C with Japan, India and Chinese Taipei.

The remaining Southeast Asian representative participating in this playground is the Philippine women's team, placed in group A with the Iranian women's team, South Korea and host Australia.

Talking about the draw results, captain striker Huynh Nhu expressed her excitement: "The opponents in the group are all quite familiar with the Vietnamese women's team. I think this is a group where we are completely capable of getting a ticket to the quarter-finals."

The 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup will take place from March 1 to March 21, 2026, in Sydney, Perth and Gold Coast - the venues that hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

After the group stage, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarterfinals. The Vietnamese women's team reached this round in the 2022 tournament, before losing 1-3 to China.

Vietnam women's team has a chance to attend the 2027 Women's World Cup

Like the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup is also a qualifier for the 2027 Women's World Cup. According to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the 6 teams with the best results in the AFC Women's Asian Cup will qualify for the world tournament.

The 6 teams above include 4 semi-finalists and 2 play-off winners. The play-off round includes 4 teams eliminated in the quarter-finals, drawn into pairs to play a knockout match. If one of these 4 teams is the World Cup host team, the remaining 3 teams will play a round-robin to choose the group winner to go straight to the World Cup. The Vietnamese women's team has gone to the 2023 Women's World Cup through this route.

The two teams that lose the play-off round still have a chance to qualify for the 2027 World Cup through the inter-zone play-off.

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-mai-duc-chung-noi-ve-co-hoi-cua-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-khi-dung-do-nhat-ban-20250729180536952.htm