Earthquake strikes in women's Asian Cup qualifiers

Bangladesh women's team made history by qualifying for the 2026 Asian Cup finals for the first time, topping Group C after two wins.

Bangladesh women's team has made great strides.

On July 2, Bangladesh football wrote a new page in history when the national women's football team for the first time won a ticket to the final round of the 2026 Asian Cup, Asia's most prestigious tournament for national teams.

An incredible 2-1 victory over hosts Myanmar in Yangon, and a 2-2 draw in the same match between Bahrain and Turkmenistan, helped Bangladesh create an earthquake. With this achievement, Bangladesh became the first team to qualify for the final round, topping Group C with 6 points after two wins.

Before the qualifying round, the Bangladesh women's team was rated much lower than the host Myanmar. However, the South Asian representative made a miracle. Previously, in the history of Bangladeshi football, only once had their national team played in the Asian Cup finals (both men and women).

That was in 1980, when the Bangladesh men's national team participated in the Asian Cup held in Kuwait. Since then, Bangladeshi football has been languishing in the "underdog" position in the continent. Their men's team is also participating in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers but has only won one point from its first two matches, making it very difficult to qualify.

Bangladesh are also the first women’s team from the qualifying round to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup finals, which will be held in Australia. The other four teams that have already secured their places are Australia (the hosts), Japan, South Korea, and China – the top three teams in the 2022 tournament.

With the top 8 teams from the qualifying round, Bangladesh is on its way to joining the elite group of Asian women's football. As for the Vietnamese women's team, coach Mai Duc Chung's girls also had a big 6-0 victory over the UAE in the second match of Group E, the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers on the evening of July 2.

With this result, the Vietnamese women's team continues to maintain the top position in Group E with 6 points after 2 matches. The final match will take place on July 5, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team only need a minimum draw against the Guam women's team to win a ticket to the next round.

Source: https://znews.vn/dia-chan-xay-ra-o-vong-loai-asian-cup-nu-post1565610.html