AFC Women's Asian Cup

AFC Women's Asian Cup
Organising body	AFC
Founded	1975; 49 years ago
Region	Asia
Number of teams	12 (finals); 35 (qualifiers)
Qualifier for	FIFA Women's World Cup
Current champions	China; (9th title)
Most successful team(s)	China; (9 titles)
	2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup

The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football competition and premier women's football competition in the AFC region for national teams. The competition is also known as the Asian Women's Football Championship and the Asian Women's Championship. 20 tournaments have been held, with the current champions being China PR. The competitions until 2026 also serve as Asian qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

History

The competition was set up by the Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC), a part of the AFC responsible for women's football. The first competition was held in 1975 and was held every two years after this, except for a period in the 1980s where the competition was held every three years. The ALFC was initially a separate organisation but was absorbed into the AFC in 1986.

From 1975 to 1981, matches were 60 minutes in duration.^[1]

The competition has been dominated by countries from the Pacific Rim or Eastern Asia (including East and Southeast Asia), with the China women's national football team having won 9 times, including a series of 7 consecutive victories as of 2022 edition. Countries from Central and West Asia have been rather less successful, with only Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Jordan and Iran having qualified so far. Eastern Asia has also been far more frequent in participating in the FIFA Women's World Cup, with five strongest women's teams of Asia (China, North Korea, Japan, Australia and South Korea) hail from this part.

The tournament frequency changed to every 4 years effective from 2010,^[2] after AFC had announced that the Asian Cup will additionally serve as the qualification rounds of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[3]

Until 2003, teams were invited by the AFC to compete. From 2006, a separate qualification was established and the number of teams will be decided by the merit by qualification process. The name of the tournament was also changed to as the "AFC Women's Asian Cup", to reflect the change and reforms of the competition.

The tournament was expanded from eight teams to twelve starting from the 2022 edition.^[4]

On 20 August 2023, AFC has decided to shift the AFC Women's Asian Cup to non-FIFA Women's World Cup odd years, which will see the edition after the upcoming 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup takes place in 2029 instead of 2030.^[5]

On 13 September 2024, AFC announced the change in the format of their women's national team competitions, including a new qualifying format for the Women's Asian Cup. In addition, the Women's Asian Cup will no longer serve as Asian qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women's World Cup from 2031 and instead serve as qualification for AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament since 2028.^[6]

Qualification

Format

All of the 47 members of the AFC who have a women's national team are eligible to participate in the qualification tournament.

Starting from 2022 edition, a total of twelve teams participate in the final tournament including the hosts, top three finishers of the previous edition and eight teams from the qualification tournament.^[4]

Results

Tournament names

1975–2003: AFC Women's Championship
2006–present: AFC Women's Asian Cup

Edition	Year	Hosts	Final			Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists			Teams
Edition	Year	Hosts	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place	Teams
1	1975	Hong Kong	New Zealand	3–1	Thailand	Australia^[a]	5–0	Malaysia	6
2	1977	Republic of China	Republic of China^[b]	3–1	Thailand	Singapore	2–0	Indonesia	6
3	1980	India	Republic of China	2–0	India S^[c]	Hong Kong and Western Australia^[d]			6
4	1981	Hong Kong	Mulan Taipei^[e]	5–0	Thailand	India	2–0	Hong Kong	8
5	1983	Thailand	Thailand	3–0	India	Malaysia	0–0 (5–4 p)	Singapore	6
6	1986	Hong Kong	China	2–0	Japan	Thailand	3–0	Indonesia	7
7	1989	Hong Kong	China	1–0	Chinese Taipei	Japan	3–1	Hong Kong	8
8	1991	Japan	China	5–0	Japan	Chinese Taipei	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	North Korea	9
9	1993	Malaysia	China	3–0	North Korea	Japan	3–0	Chinese Taipei	9
10	1995	Malaysia	China	2–0	Japan	Chinese Taipei	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–0 p)	South Korea	11
11	1997	China	China	2–0	North Korea	Japan	2–0	Chinese Taipei	11
12	1999	Philippines	China	3–0	Chinese Taipei	North Korea	3–2	Japan	15
13	2001	Taiwan	North Korea	2–0	Japan	China	8–0	South Korea	14
14	2003	Thailand	North Korea	2–1 (a.e.t./g.g.)	China	South Korea	1–0	Japan	14
15	2006	Australia	China	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Australia	North Korea	3–2	Japan	9
16	2008	Vietnam	North Korea	2–1	China	Japan	3–0	Australia	8
17	2010	China	Australia	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	North Korea	Japan	2–0	China	8
18	2014	Vietnam	Japan	1–0	Australia	China	2–1	South Korea	8
19	2018	Jordan	Japan	1–0	Australia	China	3–1	Thailand	8
20	2022	India	China	3–2	South Korea	Japan and Philippines			12
21	2026	Australia							12
22	2029	Uzbekistan							12

Performance by nation

Rank	Nation	Champions	Runners-up	Third Place	Fourth Place	Semi-finalists	Total
1	China	9	2	3	1	0	15
2	North Korea	3	3	2	1	0	9
3	Chinese Taipei	3	2	2	2	0	9
4	Japan	2	4	5	3	1	15
5	Australia	1	3	2	1	0	7
6	Thailand	1	3	1	1	0	6
7	New Zealand	1	0	0	0	0	1
8	India	0	2	1	0	0	3
9	South Korea	0	1	1	3	0	5
10	Hong Kong	0	0	1	2	0	3
11	Malaysia	0	0	1	1	0	2
11	Singapore	0	0	1	1	0	2
13	Indonesia	0	0	0	2	0	2
14	Philippines	0	0	0	0	1	1
Total		20	20	21	17	2	80

Participating nations

Team	1975 (6)	1977 (6)	1980 (6)	1981 (8)	1983 (6)	1986 (7)	1989 (8)	1991 (9)	1993 (8)	1995 (11)	1997 (11)	1999 (15)	2001 (14)	2003 (14)	2006 (9)	2008 (8)	2010 (8)	2014 (8)	2018 (8)	2022 (12)	Years
Australia	3rd		3rd	Not AFC member											2nd	4th	1st	2nd	2nd	QF	8
China						1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	3rd	2nd	1st	2nd	4th	3rd	3rd	1st	15
Chinese Taipei		1st	1st	1st			2nd	3rd	4th	3rd	4th	2nd	GS	GS	GS	GS				QF	14
Guam											GS	GS	GS	GS							4
Hong Kong	GS	GS	3rd	4th	GS	GS	4th	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS							14
India			2nd	3rd	2nd					GS	GS	GS	GS	GS						WD^[f]	9
Indonesia		4th		GS		4th	GS													GS	5
Iran																				GS	1
Japan		GS		GS		2nd	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd	3rd	4th	2nd	4th	4th	3rd	3rd	1st	1st	SF	17
Jordan																		GS	GS		2
Kazakhstan	Part of Soviet Union									GS	GS	GS		No longer AFC member							3
North Korea							GS	4th	2nd		2nd	3rd	1st	1st	3rd	1st	2nd				10
South Korea								GS	GS	4th	GS	GS	4th	3rd	GS	GS	GS	4th	5th	2nd	13
Malaysia	4th		GS		3rd	GS		GS	GS	GS		GS	GS								9
Myanmar														GS	GS		GS	GS		GS	5
Nepal						GS	GS					GS									3
New Zealand	1st	Not AFC member																			1
Philippines				GS	GS				GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS					6th	SF	10
Singapore	GS	3rd		GS	4th			GS					GS	GS							7
Thailand	2nd	2nd		2nd	1st	3rd	GS	GS		GS		GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	5th	4th	QF	17
Uzbekistan	Part of Soviet Union									GS	GS	GS	GS	GS							5
Vietnam												GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	6th	GS	QF	9

Summary (1975–2022)

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	China	15	75	61	5	9	367	38	329	188
2	Japan	17	81	55	6	20	365	60	305	171
3	Chinese Taipei	14	64	38	6	20	175	84	91	120
4	North Korea	10	53	36	6	11	242	38	204	114
5	Thailand	17	69	34	2	33	115	171	−56	104
6	South Korea	13	54	28	7	19	157	77	80	91
7	Australia	8	40	21	6	13	88	43	45	69
8	India	9	36	16	4	16	63	61	2	52
9	Hong Kong	14	57	11	4	42	26	191	−165	37
10	Vietnam	9	33	11	1	21	39	92	−53	34
11	Singapore	7	27	7	1	19	21	115	−94	22
12	Uzbekistan	5	16	7	0	9	15	64	−49	21
13	Malaysia	9	34	5	3	26	20	161	−141	18
14	Philippines	10	36	5	2	29	22	187	−165	17
15	Indonesia	5	17	4	1	12	17	77	−60	13
16	New Zealand	1	4	4	0	0	11	3	8	12
17	Kazakhstan	3	9	2	2	5	16	39	−23	8
18	Myanmar	5	17	2	2	13	16	56	−40	8
19	Guam	4	15	1	0	14	5	112	−107	3
20	Iran	1	3	0	1	2	0	12	−12	1
21	Jordan	2	6	0	0	6	5	29	−24	0
22	Nepal	3	10	0	0	10	1	67	−66	0

Awards

Year	Most Valuable Player	Top Scorer	Goals	Best goalkeeper	Fairplay Award
2006	Ma Xiaoxu	Yūki Nagasato Jung Jung-suk	7	Not awarded	China
2008	Homare Sawa	Ri Kum-suk	7		Japan
2010	Jo Yun-mi	Kozue Ando Homare Sawa Jo Yun-mi Yoo Young-a	3		China
2014	Aya Miyama	Yang Li Park Eun-sun	6		Japan
2018	Mana Iwabuchi	Li Ying	7		Japan
2022	Wang Shanshan	Sam Kerr	7	Zhu Yu	South Korea

Winning coaches

Year	Team	Coach
1975	New Zealand	Dave Farrington
1977	Republic of China	Liu Jun-tse
1980	Republic of China	Chang Teng-yun
1981	Mulan Taipei	Kao Yong
1983	Thailand	Fuengwit Thongpramul
1986	China	Cong Zheyu
1989	China	Shang Ruihua
1991	China	Shang Ruihua
1993	China	Ma Yuanan
1995	China	Ma Yuanan
1997	China	Ma Yuanan
1999	China	Ma Yuanan
2001	North Korea	Ri Song-gun
2003	North Korea	Ri Song-gun
2006	China	Ma Liangxing
2008	North Korea	Kim Kwang-min
2010	Australia	Tom Sermanni
2014	Japan	Norio Sasaki
2018	Japan	Asako Takakura
2022	China	Shui Qingxia

Notes

^ Australia was represented by a team largely from the St. George club and the New South Wales state team.^[7] These games were recognised as official Australian international fixtures in 2023.
^ Competes as Chinese Taipei since 1981, in compliance with the International Olympic Committee's Nagoya Resolution in 1979. Previously referred to as the Republic of China.^[8]
^ Host country India had two teams that played in this competition: India N and India S
^ The match was cancelled as the Hong Kong team had already booked their flights home before kickoff, failing which they would have had to stay in India for a further four days for the next available flight to Hong Kong, which was impossible due to scheduling and logistical issues. Both teams were awarded joint third place.
^ The team competed under the club name "Mulan Taipei". Chinese Taipei requested two other national teams to compete under the club name as well.^[9]
^ India failed to name the required 13 players and were unable to play their match of the group stage against Chinese Taipei due to them having only fewer than 13 players left with the remaining team members testing positive for COVID-19. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them were considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.^[10]

References

^ "Asian Women's Championship". Archived from the original on 21 October 2011.
^ "Competition Regulations AFC Women's Asian Cup 2014 Qualifiers". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 July 2012. The AFC stages the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2014 (Qualifiers) (hereafter the "Competition") for the senior women's national teams once every four (4) years. (In Section 1)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "VFF Aim To Host 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup". Asean Football Federation. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b "AFC to invest in new era of national team and club competitions". AFC. 26 October 2019.
^ "Key principles of landmark AFC Women's Champions League approved by AFC Women's Football Committee". Asian Football Confederation. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
^ "AFC unveils breakthrough reforms to strengthen Women's National Team Competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
^ Howe, Andrew; Werner, Greg. Encyclopedia of Matildas. Fair Play Publishing. ISBN 978-1-925914-74-0.
^ History of the AFC Women's Asian Cup (PDF) (Print ed.). Asian Football Confederation, International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES). FIFA Museum. January 2022. pp. 5, 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2022.
^ History of the AFC Women's Asian Cup (PDF) (Print ed.). Asian Football Confederation, International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES). FIFA Museum. January 2022. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2022.
^ "Latest update on the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022". Asian Football Confederation. 23 January 2022.