AFC makes a surprising statement about the Vietnam women's national team ahead of the 2026 Asian Cup

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) values the progress and promise of the Vietnam women's national team and expects Coach Mai Duc Chung's players to leave an impact at the 2026 Asian Cup.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has shown special attention to the Vietnam women's national team ahead of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia. On its official website, the AFC praised the impressive qualifying campaign of the Southeast Asian representatives and emphasized the motivation Coach Mai Duc Chung's team has gained.

The AFC stated: “Vietnam will rely on a successful qualifying campaign to build momentum for the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026. This Southeast Asian team has demonstrated excellent form in Group E of the qualifiers and aims to maintain that performance in the final tournament.” According to published statistics, the Vietnam women's team is currently ranked 36th in the world, has participated nine times in the tournament, and will mark their 10th consecutive appearance at the finals after winning Group E.

In the group stage of the 2026 Asian Cup, Vietnam is placed in Group C and will face India (March 4), Taiwan (March 7), and Japan (March 10) in sequence. The AFC believes that the team's realistic goal is to earn points against India and Taiwan before confronting the major challenge posed by Japan.

Notably, the AFC also reviewed the Vietnam women's football team's turbulent journey in continental and global competitions: “Vietnam has only twice advanced beyond the group stage of the Asian Cup (2014 and most recently in India), missed out on the 2015 World Cup by finishing sixth in 2014, but later secured a spot in the 2022 World Cup through the playoffs despite the impact of COVID-19. In their World Cup debut, Vietnam lost all three group matches but gained valuable experience against top-tier opponents.”

In an interview with the AFC, Coach Mai Duc Chung emphasized the team's long-term goal: “The Vietnam women's football team resumed training on the second day of Tet, putting aside family and personal matters to begin collective preparation for the upcoming tournament.”He further added: “We trained before Tet, but a long break during Tet would definitely affect fitness. Therefore, I requested the whole team to regroup early, and everyone agreed. This shows the highest spirit and determination of the Vietnam women's football team.” At 76 years old, the experienced coach continues to show dedication and determination alongside his players to achieve the goal of qualifying for the next major tournament in 2027.

Winning the silver medal at the 2025 SEA Games further strengthens the team's confidence in its potential. The AFC believes that if the Vietnam women's team maintains the form and fighting spirit shown during the qualifiers, they can aim for positive results against India and Taiwan before facing the tough challenge of Japan in the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup finals.