2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification

Tournament details
Host countries	Bahrain (Group A) Tajikistan (Groups B and C) Kyrgyzstan (Group D) Uzbekistan (Groups E, F and G) Palestine (Group H)
Dates	17–29 September, 18–24 October 2021[1]
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	7 (in 5 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	113 (4.35 per match)
Attendance	1,194 (46 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Phạm Hải Yến (8 goals)
← 2018 2026 →

The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification was the qualification tournament for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.^[2]

A total of twelve teams qualified to play in the final tournament in India.^[3] The host country India and the top three teams of the previous tournament in 2018 qualified automatically, while the other eight teams were decided by qualification, with the matches played between 17 and 29 September and 18–24 October 2021 in centralised venues.^[1][4]

This tournament also served as the first stage of Asian qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, where five teams from the Women's Asian Cup qualify directly for the World Cup (plus co-hosts Australia), and two teams qualify for a 10-team playoff tournament.^[5]

Draw[edit]

The Northern Mariana Islands, whose association became the 47th full AFC member during the confederation's 30th Congress on 9 December 2020,^[6] were eligible to enter the qualification tournament, but did not participate. They are not FIFA members and thus would not be eligible to qualify for the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Originally, the draw was to be held on 27 May 2021, 15:30 MST (UTC+8), at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[7] However, due to rising cases of COVID-19 across Asia, the AFC decided to postpone the original draw date until further notice.^[8] On 23 June, the confederation announced the seeding and the date for the draw, which was held on 24 June, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House.^[9] The 28 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams and four groups of three teams.

The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup final tournament and qualification (overall ranking shown in parentheses). The following restrictions were also applied:

• The seven teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.
• These host countries were allocated to positions in each group according to their ranking:
  • Chinese Taipei and Myanmar in position 1
  • Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in position 2
  • Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nepal in position 4 (if drawn in Group A–D) or position 3 (if drawn in Group E–G)

Automatically qualified for final tournament and not participating in qualification
India (18) (as final tournament hosts)  Japan (1)  Australia (2)  China (3)
Participating in qualification
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4 (unranked)
Thailand (4)  South Korea (5)  Philippines (6)  Jordan (7)  Vietnam (8)  North Korea (9) (W)  Chinese Taipei (10) (H)  Myanmar (11) (H)	Bahrain (12) (H)*  Iran (13)  Uzbekistan (14) (H)  Palestine (15) (H)*  United Arab Emirates (16)  Singapore (17)  Hong Kong (19)  Tajikistan (20) (H)	Iraq (21) (W)	Afghanistan (NR) (W)  Bangladesh (NR) (H)  Guam (NR)  Indonesia (NR) (H)  Laos (NR)  Lebanon (NR) (H)*  Malaysia (NR)  Maldives (NR)  Mongolia (NR)  Nepal (NR) (H)  Turkmenistan (NR) (W)

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
• (H): Qualification group hosts determined before the draw
• (H)*: Qualification group hosts determined after the draw
• (NR): Non-ranked
• (W): Withdrew after draw

Did not enter

Groups[edit]

The matches were played during the windows of 16–29 September and 18–24 October 2021.

Schedule

Matchday	Group B		Group C		Groups E–H		Group A		Group D
	Dates	Matches	Dates	Matches	Dates	Matches	Dates	Matches	Dates	Matches
Matchday 1	23 September 2021	1 v 3	24 September 2021	2 v 1	17–19 September 2021	3 v 1	18 October 2021	3 v 1	18 October 2021	2 v 3, 1 v 4
Matchday 2	26 September 2021	2 v 3	27 September 2021	1 v 2	20–22 September 2021	2 v 3	21 October 2021	2 v 3	21 October 2021	3 v 1, 4 v 2
Matchday 3	29 September 2021	1 v 2	—	—	23–25 September 2021	1 v 2	24 October 2021	1 v 2	24 October 2021	3 v 4, 1 v 2

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 7.3):^[2]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

Group A[edit]

• Chinese Taipei was originally to host the group, but it was changed due to the activity limitations imposed on foreign teams in Taiwan.^[11] On 15 September, Bahrain was confirmed as the Group hosts.
• Times listed are UTC+3.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chinese Taipei	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6	Final tournament
2	Bahrain (H)	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1
3	Laos	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	1
4	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew[a]

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Group B[edit]

• All matches were held in Tajikistan.
• Times listed are UTC+5.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Vietnam	2	2	0	0	23	0	+23	6	Final tournament
2	Tajikistan (H)	2	1	0	1	4	7	−3	3
3	Maldives	2	0	0	2	0	20	−20	0
4	Afghanistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew[a]

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Group C[edit]

• Both matches were held in Tajikistan.
• Times listed are UTC+5.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Indonesia	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	6	Final tournament
2	Singapore	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	0
3	Iraq	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew[a]
4	North Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group D[edit]

• All matches were originally to be held in Lebanon. On 15 September, Kyrgyzstan was confirmed as the group hosts.
• Times listed are UTC+6.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Myanmar	3	3	0	0	14	0	+14	9	Final tournament
2	Lebanon	3	2	0	1	4	4	0	6
3	United Arab Emirates	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Guam	3	0	0	3	1	13	−12	0

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Group E[edit]

• All matches were held in Uzbekistan.
• Times listed are UTC+5.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	2	2	0	0	16	0	+16	6	Final tournament
2	Uzbekistan (H)	2	1	0	1	12	4	+8	3
3	Mongolia	2	0	0	2	0	24	−24	0

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Group F[edit]

• Nepal was originally to host the group. Tashkent, Uzbekistan was announced as the replacement host.^[17]
• Times listed are UTC+5.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Philippines	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	6	Final tournament
2	Hong Kong	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1[a]
2	Nepal	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1[a]

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Group G[edit]

• Bangladesh was originally to host the group, but considered a withdrawal from hosting due to COVID-19 pandemic in the country.^[18] The AFC announced Uzbekistan as the replacement host.^[19][20]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	2	1	1	0	5	0	+5	4[a]	Final tournament
2	Jordan	2	1	1	0	5	0	+5	4[a]
3	Bangladesh	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10	0

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Group H[edit]

• All matches were held in Palestine.
• Times listed are UTC+2:00.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Thailand	2	2	0	0	11	0	+11	6	Final tournament
2	Malaysia	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	3
3	Palestine (H)	2	0	0	2	0	9	−9	0

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Qualified teams[edit]

The following 12 teams qualified for the final tournament.^[21]

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in AFC Women's Asian Cup1
India	Hosts	5 June 2020[3]	8 (1979, 1981, 1983, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003)
Japan	2018 champions	28 January 2021[4]	16 (1977, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Australia	2018 runners-up	28 January 2021[4]	7 (1975, 1979, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)
China	2018 third place	28 January 2021[4]	14 (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Chinese Taipei	Group A winners	24 October 2021	13 (1977, 1979, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008)
Vietnam	Group B winners	29 September 2021	8 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Indonesia	Group C winners	27 September 2021	4 (1977, 1981, 1986, 1989)
Myanmar	Group D winners	24 October 2021	4 (2003, 2006, 2010, 2014)
South Korea	Group E winners	23 September 2021	12 (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Philippines	Group F winners	24 September 2021	9 (1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2018)
Iran	Group G winners	25 September 2021	0 (Debut)
Thailand	Group H winners	25 September 2021	16 (1975, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers[edit]

There were 113 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 4.35 goals per match.

8 goals

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• AFC Women's Asian Cup, the-AFC.com