Comments on Group E of the 2026 Asian Women's Cup Qualifiers: Vietnam Women's Team Determined to Win the Top Spot

Since first participating in 1999, the Vietnamese team has never missed the biggest football festival in the continent.

After a total of 9 times participating in the Asian Women's Football Championship (Asian Cup), the best achievement of the Golden Star Warriors was reaching the quarter-finals in the most recent final round held in India 3 years ago.

The Vietnamese women's team is therefore considered the most prominent face in Group E. On the FIFA rankings, the team under the leadership of coach Mai Duc Chung is currently ranked 37th, much higher than the remaining opponents in the same group such as Guam (ranked 97th in the world ), UAE (ranked 117th) and Maldives (ranked 163).

In addition to their superior technical skills, the Vietnamese women's team also enjoys a significant advantage from the home field.

Because the qualifying round of group E is held at Viet Tri Stadium ( Phu Tho ), coach Mai Duc Chung's students will have the advantage of playing on a familiar field, with enthusiastic cheers from fans.

Viet Tri Stadium also witnessed Huynh Nhu and her teammates win the SEA Games 31 gold medal. Therefore, with careful preparation in all aspects, the Vietnamese women's team is expected to not encounter too many difficulties to win the top spot and the only ticket to the 2026 Women's Asian Cup Finals.

However, the home team girls are not allowed to be lax and subjective. Because each group only has one team and the nature of the single-round match requires coach Mai Duc Chung and his team to be highly focused and solve each match well.

In addition, we must also mention the unknowns from the opponent itself. Although only ranked 3rd in Group E according to FIFA rankings, the UAE women's team has the potential to cause the greatest "damage" to the Vietnamese women's team.

Because, in the group representing West Asia coming to Viet Tri this time, there are many naturalized faces.

Comments on Group E of the 2026 Asian Women's Cup qualifiers: Vietnam women's team determined to win the top spot - photo 2 — UAE women's team could become a formidable opponent for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team (Photo: VFF)

Some of the names that are very Western, from England or America, include: Elizabeth Forshaw, Mia Lindborg, Ava Steven, Georgia Gibson...

But the current core of the UAE women's team is still generally the players playing for Abu Dhabi Country Club, the leading domestic team and who suffered a dramatic defeat against Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club in the quarter-finals of the 2024/25 Asian Women's Cup (an unbelievable 4-5 loss despite leading 3-0 after the first half).

The UAE women's team promises to be the biggest rival of the Vietnamese women's team in their quest for a ticket to the finals. The determination of coach Vera Pauw and her team was demonstrated when they traveled to Viet Tri 3 days early to have more time to get used to the pitch and weather conditions.

Coach Mai Duc Chung himself also showed caution against the opponent from West Asia: "Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club had the opportunity to face Abu Dhabi Country Women's Club in the continental cup 3 months ago. It was a very difficult match and showed that UAE women's football has made a lot of progress. They have players who are strong in terms of physique and physical strength."

The remaining two teams, Guam women's team and Maldives women's team, are probably not names capable of creating a surprise for Huynh Nhu and her teammates.

Guam women's team is not a prominent name on the continental football map, while Maldives women's team lost heavily to Vietnam women's team in the 2022 Asian women's football qualifiers.

But coach Duc Chung certainly won't allow his players to lose their vigilance: "Recently, continental football has had strong changes, especially in the aspect of naturalization. Therefore, we cannot be subjective."