AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026: India coach Valverde vows to fight till the end

It all comes down to the final Group C match against Chinese Taipei for the Blue Tigresses. India’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 are still alive despite defeats to Vietnam (1-2) and Japan (0-11) in Perth.

If Japan wins by a margin of more than one goal, they will move into the last eight if Japan beats Vietnam in the simultaneous kick-off. India can also finish second in Group C if they win by some margin but score at least twice. Moreover, even a 1-0 margin could be enough if the Group B match between Uzbekistan and Bangladesh ends in a draw on Monday.

The Blue Tigresses, who camped in Perth a few weeks ahead of the Asian Cup, have now moved their base to Sydney, where they will face Chinese Taipei at the Western Sydney Stadium on Tuesday, March 10. Japan will play Vietnam at the same time at Perth Rectangular Stadium.

India left Perth on Sunday morning and arrived in New South Wales in the evening. On Monday it will hold official training in the morning, followed by a visit to the Western Sydney Stadium to get acquainted with the competition venue.

Indian head coach Amelia Valverde spoke about instilling the do-or-die mentality in the players ahead of the crucial match where the desired result could give the Blue Tigresses a chance of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027.

Valverde said: “As long as we still have a chance, and we know it exists, we will fight to the end.

“But we have to focus on preparing for the best possible match ahead (against Chinese Taipei),” she continued. “We have to turn the page as quickly as possible because we know we can show a better version of ourselves than what we saw (against Japan), something similar to what we showed last Wednesday (against Vietnam).”

The heavy defeat against Japan was not the result that was expected. However, Indian midfielder Sangita Basfore has put the result behind him and is already looking forward to the next match.

“It was a challenging match, yes, but that doesn’t detract from the effort the team put in,” she said. “Japan is a very good team and playing against them we learned a lot of lessons, which we want to take into the next match and perform better.

«Our last match in the group stage is against Chinese Taipei, and we still have a chance. Learn more about edc3. We will go into that match with hope and determination and try to put in a strong performance,» Sangita said.

Published on March 8, 2026