Amelia Valverde shows faith ahead of the clash against Chinese Taipei in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026

The Indian team is looking for a win against Chinese Taipei in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup

It all comes down to the last Group C match against Chinese Taipei for the Indian Senior Women’s National Team. India’s hopes of making it to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 quarterfinals are very much alive despite defeats against Vietnam (1-2) and Japan (0-11) in Perth.

Win by a margin of more than a goal, and they will enter the last eight, should Japan defeat Vietnam on March 10, 2026, in the simultaneous kick-off.

India can also scrape through as Group C runners-up if they win by any margin but score at least twice in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Further, even a 1-0 margin may be enough should the Group B game between Uzbekistan and Bangladesh end in a draw on Monday.

“We still have a chance, will fight till the very end”: Amelia Valeverde

The Blue Tigresses, who had set up camp in Perth, a couple of weeks before the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, have now shifted base to Sydney, where they will face Chinese Taipei at the Western Sydney Stadium, at 14:30 IST on Tuesday, March 10.

Japan play Vietnam at the same time, at Perth Rectangular Stadium in Perth. Both matches will be streamed live on FanCode.

India left Perth on Sunday morning and arrived in New South Wales in the evening. On Monday, they will hold their official training session in the morning, followed by a visit to the Western Sydney Stadium to familiarise themselves with the match venue.

India head coach Amelia Valverde spoke about instilling the do-or-die mentality into the players, ahead of the crucial match, where the desired result may give the Blue Tigresses a shot at qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027.

Valverde said, “As long as we still have a chance, and we know we do; we will fight until the very end.“But we need to focus on preparing the best possible match ahead (against Chinese Taipei),”

She continued. “We must turn the page as quickly as possible because we know we can show a better version of ourselves than what we saw (against Japan), something similar to what we showed last Wednesday (against Vietnam).”

Sangita Basfore is confident about the next game against Chinese Taipei

However, India midfielder Sangita Basfore has put the result behind her and is already looking forward to the next game.

“It was a challenging match, yes, but it does not diminish the effort that the team put in,” she said. “Japan are a very good team, and playing against them gave us many lessons, which we intend to take forward into the next match and perform better.

“Our last group stage game is against Chinese Taipei, and we still have a chance. We will go into that match with hope and determination, and try to deliver a strong performance,” said Sangita.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.