After a bruising five games of football in the AFC Women’s finals, Taiwan’s tournament is over after a comprehensive defeat to North Korea.

Having lost to China a few days earlier, the Mulan were out of the AFC Finals itself but had been moved into a ‘best of the rest’ bracket that was designed to send a further two Asian nations to the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. But luck had not been kind to Taiwan as they had been paired with one of the better sides in Asia and one that had been considered a dark horse to win the AFC Finals itself.

Indeed, North Korea began the game with a calm ruthlessness, and the constant probing down the flanks suggested that bad things were coming for their opponents.

It would take a little while but North Korea opened the scoring with thirty-one minutes played when a cross from the right was headed home powerfully by Hong Song-ok. Veteran keeper Cheng Ssu-yu might have wished that she stayed on her line instead of trying to claim the cross but the accuracy of the pass and execution of the finish deserved a goal regardless.

At the risk of dabbling in cliches, the wing-play of the North Koreans felt Soviet in its repetitive nature but it was also irresistible. Having broken the deadlock from the flanks, North Korea doubled their lead four minutes into the second half, this time from the left-hand side. A lovely piece of team play that began with striker Kim Kyong-yong controlling a lofted pass with her chest, progressed with the through-ball to winger Hwang Yu-Yong, who then found Hong with a cross that arrived just in time for an easy headed goal from close range. 

A third headed goal came three minutes later when Jon Ryong-Jong seized on a weak clearance by Chen Ying-hui and whipped the ball in from the right hand side. With momentum on her side, the leaping Kim Kyong-yong sent Chang Chi-lan crashing to the ground and the ball flying into the back of the net from about eight yards out.

Cheng did her best to keep the scoreline under control but the rout was completed when Hong seized upon a deflected shot that Cheng had initially saved before firing the ball into the roof of the net.

Taiwan did not give up and Chen Yu-chin almost scored with a swerving effort that hit the bar and bounced away. But ultimately, it felt like the wind had finally come out of the sails of the Mulan following a series of demanding games earlier in the tournament.

They, like most of the teams in the AFC Finals, are now headed home. But another plane journey awaits in a few months for yet another ‘best of the rest’ tournament that will decide the final three places in the 2027 World Cup. 

Results in this tournament have confirmed that Taiwan are good enough to be a World Cup team. But in the same way that luck did not save them from getting North Korea in this runners up bracket, Taiwan will need to avoid one of the stronger teams from the other FIFA regions if they want to be playing in Brazil next summer.

Photo Credit: CTFA