Having secured qualification for the 2026 AFC Finals in Australia, the Taiwanese women’s national team found themselves placed in the best group possible after yesterday’s draw.

With teams being drawn from four pots based on their FIFA rankings, Taiwan found themselves in the third pot. It meant they had to wait nervously whilst the initial groups were created from among the best womens sides in Asia.

First out was Japan, and barring something unexpected, the Nadeshiko will be favorites to win the group and perhaps the AFC Finals tournament itself.

However, when the second pot was drawn, Taiwan dodged both South Korea, the recent Womens’ EAFF Finals champion, and China, another traditional powerhouse within the Asian region. Instead Vietnam was the team drawn from the second pot.

Although Vietnam is hugely experienced, they are also the weakest of the three sides from that subgroup and only a few spots above Taiwan in the FIFA rankings. Going back almost thirty years, this has been a frequent and competitive rivalry, with Vietnam winning seven games, Taiwan winning four and the remaining three encounters finishing in a draw. When the two sides last met in 2023, the result was a narrow 2-1 for the Vietnamese but the Mulan will fancy their chances now that the team has fully embraced the tactics of current coach, Chan Hiu Ming.

Rounding out the group will be India, who have only beaten the Mulan once in their five meetings all-time (Taiwan have won the remaining four games, albeit by a 2-1 scoreline in every encounter). Although India’s recent record appears strong, the results have included a series of obvious walk-overs, such as beating the Maldives twice by score lines of 14-0 and 11-1.

Two teams will qualify out of each group and advance to the quarter-finals, as will the two best third-placed teams. Given that there are only three groups, Taiwan will be expecting at least a run to the knock-out rounds in 2026 and on paper, this seems very achievable.

Group Games Fixtures

March 4th: Japan v Taiwan (Perth)

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