India takes on higher-ranked Thailand with Women’s Asian Cup 2026 spot on the line

After more than two months of continuous toil and three wins in the group so far, India will take on Thailand for a place in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium on Saturday.

India has never previously reached the AFC Women’s Asian Cup through the qualifiers route. The Blue Tigresses last made it to the continent’s top stage back in 2003 when there were no qualifiers. India did participate in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 as host, but had to withdraw due to a COVID outbreak in the squad.

“Qualification right now would be a huge boost for Indian football overall,” said coach Crispin Chettri.

“We’re going through a challenging phase at the moment, and the women’s team qualifying would really provide a ray of hope. It would also help the women’s game grow in India. More young players would be inspired to take up football professionally. For those already in the national team, it would be an opportunity to face the best teams in Asia, and possibly the world. So in every way, I believe it would be a big step forward for football in India,” he added.

While Thailand is ranked 46th, 24 places above India, statistically, there hasn’t been any difference in the Qualifiers thus far. The Blue Tigresses blanked Mongolia 13-0, Timor Leste 4-0 and Iraq 5-0, while the Chabakaew defeated the same opponents 11-0, 4-0, and 7-0, respectively.

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That leaves both sides with a goal difference of +22 and sets up a knockout clash in every sense. Only a victory will do, and if there’s no separating them after 90 minutes, the ticket to Australia will be handed out after penalties.

Chettri knows this challenge is bigger than the ones before, but affirms that the mindset needs to stay the same.

“I think we need to maintain the same mindset we’ve had throughout the tournament, from the Mongolia game to now. We haven’t taken any team lightly, and we’ve worked hard in training for every match. The same applies to Thailand. Yes, they are a stronger side than the others and deserve full respect, and for us, it’s about executing what we’ve been preparing for the last two months,” Chettri said.

“For us, the mindset is clear. We want to finish the game in 90 minutes. We’re not approaching it thinking about penalties. We’re preparing to win in regulation time and will play with that intent from the start. Being overly defensive or waiting for penalties is not how we want to approach this match,” he added.

Coached by Japanese Futoshi Ikeda, Thailand is targeting its 10th successive qualification for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The Chabakaew have also made it to two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015 and 2019). And while India has never managed to defeat Thailand in history, Sangita believes there’s no better time than now.