Women's football team: Moving towards World Cup goal

The Vietnamese women's football team has completed its mission in the qualifying round of the 2026 Asian Women's Football Championship, which just took place in Viet Tri (Phu Tho). The "Diamond Girls" have created a very good start to make a big step forward in the journey to conquer a ticket to the second World Cup of Vietnamese women's football.

Passing the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese women's team confidently aims for future goals

Double harvest

In Group E of the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese women's team (ranked 37th in the world ) along with Guam (ranked 97th in the world), UAE (ranked 117th in the world) and Maldives (ranked 163rd in the world) will compete in a round-robin format, with only the top team in the group qualifying for the finals in Australia next year.

With home advantage, careful preparation and determination, the Vietnamese women's team had a successful journey when they defeated Guam 4-0, UAE 6-0 and Maldives 7-0 to secure the only place in the group. Despite impressively qualifying for the 2026 Asian Cup, coach Mai Duc Chung still frankly acknowledged the team's areas of improvement, especially the ability to take advantage of opportunities.

In this training session, some key players gathered late due to being busy playing in the AFC Women's Champions League, the U20 players could not gather due to preparing for the Asian qualifiers, while the preparation time was too short, not optimizing finishing ability.

Not only completing the achievement target, the recent matches have given Coach Mai Duc Chung the opportunity to test personnel and build playing style. Against weak opponents, Coach Mai Duc Chung often lets young players intertwine with key seniors in the starting lineup, each match is a different lineup.

When the team creates a safe gap, the number of young players on the field is also greater, then the coaching staff has the opportunity to test them in new positions to accurately assess each person's ability and competitive mentality. This is extremely necessary in the context of the Vietnamese women's team rejuvenating its force, creating a basis for aiming for the two remaining arenas of the year, the Southeast Asian Championship and the 33rd SEA Games, especially the goal of winning a ticket to the 2027 Women's World Cup next year.

Coach Mai Duc Chung frankly pointed out the challenges in the process of rejuvenating the force: “Young male players have not yet met the national team level, so with women's football, everything is even more difficult. The current veterans have played together for a long time to have a good understanding. It is a long process, full of perseverance and fatigue. We need to be really patient.”

Opportunities and challenges

Passing the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers is a long-term preparation step for the "Diamond Girls" to aim for a ticket to the 2027 Women's World Cup. This is the most important goal of Vietnamese women's football next year.

“Football always has surprises, but in our hearts we all have hope of participating in the World Cup. If we receive more systematic investment, I believe the Vietnamese women's team can create surprises and get closer to the 2027 World Cup. We are eager for that,” said coach Mai Duc Chung.

According to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the 6 teams with the best results at the 2026 Asian Cup will win tickets to the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. The number 1 tournament in Asia will take place next year in Australia with 12 participating teams, the 4 teams that reach the semi-finals will be guaranteed a place, while the 4 losing teams in the quarter-finals will be drawn into 2 pairs, the 2 winning teams will win the remaining places.

The Vietnamese women's team will face many challenges when, in addition to the five strongest teams in Asia, Australia, South Korea, Japan, China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, they will also face great competition from the Philippines, India and Chinese Taipei.

According to experts, with the level and strength of Australia, South Korea, Japan, China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it is very difficult for the Vietnamese women's team to enter the semi-finals. Therefore, the team's possible goal is to keep hope in the play-off round and before thinking about that, the Vietnamese girls need to pass the group stage.

At the 2022 Asian Cup in India, after being eliminated in the quarter-finals, the Vietnamese women's team, along with Thailand and Chinese Taipei, competed in a round-robin play-off round (despite losing in the quarter-finals, Australia did not compete because it was the host of the 2023 Women's World Cup).

In this round, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team defeated Thailand 2-0 and Chinese Taipei 2-1 to earn 6 absolute points, thereby winning a place to attend the World Cup for the first time in history. Vietnamese football fans are hopeful that coach Mai Duc Chung and his team will repeat history at the tournament in Australia next year.

This is not an easy goal, but if the team is well prepared, determined, focused on each match, and lucky, the "Diamond Girls" can completely fulfill their dream of participating in the biggest football festival on the planet for the second time.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/doi-tuyen-bong-da-nu-tien-buoc-muc-tieu-world-cup-20250709152312653.htm