Several nations have booked their tickets to next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, and none could be happier than Bangladesh, as they finally made it to the big dance after a long wait.
Peter Butler’s side is among the teams that went undefeated in the group stage, alongside India in Group B, Chinese Taipei in Group D, Vietnam in Group E, Uzbekistan in Group F, the Philippines in Group G, and DPR Korea in Group H, who have also qualified for next year’s showpiece event.
Australia, China, South Korea, and Japan have qualified ahead of time, and there’s still one more spot up for grabs. Group A action is still underway, with Jordan, Bhutan, Iran, Singapore, and Lebanon competing for the last berth. Jordan and Bhutan have a head start after winning their opening matches.
Here are some of the latest AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2025 news, courtesy of SBOTOP.
Job finished for Bangladesh
After waiting for five decades, the Bangladesh women’s national team finally qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The Bengal Tigresses topped Group C with nine points, beating Myanmar, Bahrain, and Turkmenistan in their wake.
Bangladesh started their group stage campaign with a 7-0 rout of Bahrain, followed by a 2-1 win over Myanmar. Last weekend, Peter Butler’s women secured another 7-0 victory against Turkmenistan.
A confident Bangladesh side took the game to Turkmenistan and were ahead within four minutes, as Sapna Rani fired a long-range strike after an assist by Tohura Khatun. They doubled their lead two minutes later, as Shamsunnahar Jr. smashed home a rebound after Turkmenistan goalkeeper Asyha Amanberdiyeva saved Afeida Khandaker’s header. Shamsunnahar Jr. notched a brace in the 13th minute before Monika Chakma capitalised on a defencive lapse by their Central Asian counterparts three minutes later.
Ritu Porna’s long-range strike in the 17th minute made it 5-0, and Tohura Khatun scored her first goal of the contest in the 20th minute. Ritu completed her brace four minutes before the halftime break, and the score remained unchanged until the final whistle.
Before all of this, Butler took the head coaching job with low expectations, especially after they lost 4-0 to Chinese Taipei in his first game at the helm last year. Fast forward to today, and Bangladesh have defied the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2025 odds, making them the lowest-ranked team to ever qualify for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup (128th).
Uzbekistan survive six-goal thriller to clinch spot
Uzbekistan came out hot out of the gates in the group stage, notching a 10-0 win over Sri Lanka and a 7-0 victory over Laos before they were pushed to the limit by Nepal in the final group stage contest last weekend.
Kotryna Kulbyte’s side was poised to win the game after building a 2-0 lead by the 40th minute, but the complexion of the match changed after Nozimakhon Ergasheva was sent off during the first half stoppage time.
Nepal exploited Uzbekistan’s numerical disadvantage, as Sabitra Bhandari scored a hat-trick to force a 3-3 draw and send the match to a penalty shootout since both sides were level on points and goal difference. Uzbekistan qualified for next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup after going perfect from the spot (4-2), while Sabitra and goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar failed to convert for Nepal.
This win marks a major achievement for Uzbekistan, as they returned to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time since 2003. For Kulbyte, qualifying is only the beginning, as they plan to get out of the group stage for the first time in next year’s event.
Philippines can breathe a sigh of relief
The Philippines are qualified by winning 3-0 against Saudi Arabia and 6-0 against Cambodia before they outlasted Hong Kong in a 1-0 result last Saturday. Chandler McDaniel put the Filipinas ahead in the fourth minute, but it was a scrappy match throughout the night.
Hong Kong nearly recorded the equaliser in the 20th minute through a close-range attempt from Cheung Wai Ki. However, Filipinas goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel, Chandler’s sister, made a critical save to preserve the one-goal edge. Hong Kong were desperately searching for an equaliser throughout the second half, but the Philippines’ backline withstood Hong Kong’s pressure to keep a clean sheet.
“We came with the objective to qualify and not to lose and not to concede, and we did that,” Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said. “That was a really scrappy game (on Saturday), and maybe we should have gotten a penalty, which would have smoothed the game out, but we did everything that we needed to do.”
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