Women's Asian Cup to afford Vietnam chance at World Cup qualification

Asia's most prestigious women's football tournament will take place from Jan. 20 to Feb. 6 next year in India, following the success of the 2018 edition in Jordan.

The event will also serve as a qualifier for Women's World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.

The Vietnam women's football team have a great chance to qualify for World Cup, with a record five slots reserved for Asian teams in the tournament (apart from hosts Australia), as it has extended the number of participating team from 24 to 32 for the 2023 edition.

In addition, life will be easier for Vietnam in the Women’s Asian Cup. Australia will not take part in the event because they already qualified for World Cup as hosts. North Korea will also be absent because they are under punishment for quitting an Olympic Tokyo qualification game last year against South Korea.

In these five qualification slots, three are expected to be claimed by giants like Japan, China and South Korea. The remaining two slots could be Thailand and Vietnam, as the other teams in Asian Cup this year are weaker opponents like the Philippines, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Taiwan.

Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will feature 12 teams, an extension from eight in the previous tournament. They will be divided into three groups of four, with a minimum 25 matches played over 18 days. The top teams of each group will qualify for World Cup while the runners-up will battle for two remaining tickets in the play-offs.