The Indian Women’s Football Team has a gallant past in the history of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, also known as the AFC Women’s Championship at the time. The Blue Tigresses were a solid outfit in the early 1980s, ending as runners-up twice in the competition. They made their first final appearance in their debut Women’s Asian Cup campaign itself in 1980, hosted on home soil and repeated the feat only three years later, but fell short each time. Regardless, it remains the best showing of the Indian team on the Asian stage and since then, there has been a substantial decline. Due to gross mismanagement of women’s football in the nation, they missed the next four editions and finished last with zero points and no goals scored when they returned to the stage in 1995.
While India did not experience such a poor return in the subsequent participations, managing to win at least one game, they failed to advance to the knockout stage of the Women’s Asian Cup. Their disappointments piled up when the qualification stage began in the 2006 edition, as teams were only invited to play in the competition before. The Blue Tigresses now had to get to the Asian Cup by merit, but they failed miserably each time. Not until 2022, after a tough 18-year exile from the tournament, did India manage to find themselves on the continental stage again when they hosted the competition for the second time. However, a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad forced the team to withdraw after playing only the tournament's opener, causing another huge heartbreak.
Despite the setback, serious work was now getting put into improving the standards of women’s football in the country. The 2022 squad had several players who had played in foreign leagues after building up their skills from their own league, the Indian Women’s League or IWL, started in 2016, which became the first professional top-tier women’s league in India. Clubs like Gokulam Kerala invested in women’s sports and gave them a new direction by building up proper national team stars with finding success at the continental level, which others followed to build an ecosystem. However, even with several SAFF titles to their name across age levels, the spark was missing for the side on the Asian stage. India needed a mastermind to add the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle and they soon found one.
After limited success under Maymol Rocky and having a much brighter era under their first foreign coach in history, Thomas Dennerby, the Blue Tigresses hit another slump after the Swede’s departure, with an unconvincing managerial selection and deadwood that needed to be removed from the squad. Enter Crispin Chettri, a man who has been involved in women’s football in the country from the start of his managerial career and found his biggest achievement in guiding Odisha FC to their first IWL title in 2024, breaking the dominance of Gokulam Kerala. He already made a mark with the Odisha state team in the women’s championship and Sethu FC, making himself the ideal candidate for the national team job.
AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers
Chettri would go on to prove himself in a historic qualifiers journey for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026, but not without some initial hurdles. The Indian Women’s Football Team participated in the Pink Ladies Cup hosted in the UAE, the first assignment for the manager since he took charge in February 2025. The side could only manage one win in the tournament against bottom-placed Jordan and lost to Russia and South Korea to finish fourth in their group. That losing pattern continued in the 1-0 losses in the two friendlies against Uzbekistan, played as preparation for the qualifiers. However, this time the Blue Tigresses had a clear pattern of play, which was the main criticism of previous management and improvements were noticeable.
So, despite the poor pattern of results, the team was full of confidence heading into the qualifiers, where they faced Mongolia, Timor Leste, Iraq and Thailand. Except for the latter, who also hosted the group games, all of their opposition were lower-ranked. Only the winners of each qualifying group would advance to the Women’s Asian Cup, making the challenge stiffer. However, India saw a golden opportunity to break their streak of misfortune and finally qualify for the finals.
Matches
Mongolia 0-13 India (23 June 2025)
India started the qualifiers as expected by dismantling the 126th-ranked nation, Mongolia, 13-0. A key player in Odisha FC’s success in the IWL under Crispin Chettri and also an established striker in the national team, Pyari Xaxa became the star of the show by scoring an incredible five goals, with Soumya Guguloth scoring a brace and Rimpa Halder, Malavika Prasad, Priyadharshini Selladurai and Dangmei Grace adding a strike of their own after Sangita Basfore began the rout.
India 4-0 Timor Leste (29 June 2025)
158th-ranked Timor-Leste was also a walk in the park for the Blue Tigresses as they smashed four goals past them without reply. Star winger Manisha Kalyan bagged a brace with Anju Tamang and youngster Lynda Kom getting on the act as well. India had passed the easiest of the tests so far and they were now entering the trickier part of the qualifiers, where one wrong step could end their dreams.
India 5-0 Iraq (2 July 2025)
Chettri’s side was on top of their game, but Thailand also remained flawless and breathing down their necks with the same points collected. Hence, the penultimate game in the qualifiers against Iraq became crucial as only a win would give them a chance to stay in contention for the Asian Cup ahead of the winner-takes-all showdown with the hosts, who won their game beforehand. India made sure that they didn’t slip up at the crucial stage and got their usual job done against another lower-ranked opposition, a high-five performance with five different goal scorers and registering a clean sheet again. The result set them well for the all-important final group game.
Thailand 1-2 India (5 July 2025)
Both Thailand and India entered the final qualifying game of the group with the same points and the same goal difference, meaning winning the game was the sole deciding factor of the tie, with only the group topper advancing to the main tournament next year. The Blue Tigresses were just a step away from creating history, but they were no longer facing an opposition lurking way down in the rankings. Their opponent, ranked 46th in FIFA, had the advantage of hosting the qualifiers and had historically troubled India in major competitions, including a 3-0 win against them in the 1983 Women's Asian Cup final. To top it off, the visitors had never won this fixture, giving them almost no record to back them in this battle.
India found themselves in a similar scenario before and struggled to get over the line, but this team was different and they were here to prove it. It was Chaba Kaew that started strongly, even hitting the post in one of the early attempts, showing the threat they possess. However, the Blue Tigresses were unfazed by that as they took their first decent chance of the game, with Sangita, who has made a habit of scoring in the qualifiers, putting her team in the lead with a spectacular volley, even a full-stretched Thailand goalkeeper Tiffany Sornpao unable to save it. The host kept piling up the chances and found an unusual equaliser only a minute after half-time when fullback Chatchawan Rodthong's cross meant for striker Saowalak Pengngam trickled into the net, deceiving the Indian defence and their goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu.
That is not what Chettri’s side wanted after losing such a crucial advantage, giving life to Thailand as they almost made it worse for them when Karnjanathat Phomsri struck the woodwork with the goal gaping from Ploychompoo Somnuek’s floater. India seemed to be losing it, but they remained firm in their belief and trusted themselves to turn the game in their favour again. Their resilience ultimately paid off in the 74th minute when a dangerous corner swung in a dangerous corner that was squared to an unmarked Sangita by Shilky Devi, who scored for the second time on the night for the winner that sent India secure their first Women's Asian Cup qualification by merit.
Final Standings
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
1 | India | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | +23 | 12 |
2 | Thailand (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 2 | +21 | 9 |
3 | Timor-Leste | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 4 |
4 | Iraq | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 4 |
5 | Mongolia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 32 | −29 | 0 |
The historic result meant India finished top of their qualifying group and booked a place in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time as a qualified team. Thailand finished second and saw their long-standing qualification streak end, with the Blue Tigresses making their dream come true after years of pain and unforeseen circumstances in their previous participation. The achievements of the national team were made possible by a talented group of players who experienced many struggles together. Key to this success was the removal of certain individuals from the team, as their inclusion had become a liability regardless of their performance. Most importantly, manager Crispin Chettri played a crucial role in fostering a cohesive unit that prioritised teamwork over individual talent. The team found an excellent balance of scoring tons of goals but also not letting themselves be exposed, which made them a tough side to play against. The 2026 edition of the Women’s Asian Cup is set to be hosted in Australia in March 2026, which will also be a pathway for an even bigger milestone, the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. For now, the nation will eternally cherish the occasion and enjoy the build-up to the competition in half a year.
