India U20 vs Uzbekistan U20 Preview, team news, lineups & prediction | Women's friendlies

India U20 women’s football team will play two friendlies against the Uzbekistan U20 women’s team.

The India U20 Women’s football team will be travelling to Tashkent to face off against the Uzbekistan U20 women’s side in two friendly matches.

The first match is set to take place on Sunday (July 13), and these friendlies will be warm-up matches for both sides ahead of their AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers, which will take place in early August.

Joakim Alexandersson will urge his side to play on the front foot and produce an efficient performance to raise their confidence levels in these friendlies.

The Stakes

India U20

The India U20 Women’s national team have actually played a few matches in 2025 and proven their quality against relatively decent opponents. They played in the 2025 U20 Pink Ladies Cup that took place in Turkey in February (2025), winning two of their three matches.

The Indian senior team and the U20s were training in the same facilities in Bengaluru, preparing for their respective Asian qualifiers. They played a practice match against each other last month, and a few U20 players also trained with the senior team during the camp.

However, with the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers fast approaching, Joakim Alexandersson will aim to raise his side’s sharpness and chemistry levels in the upcoming friendlies.

He’ll aim to ensure that his players can improve their rhythm, be more innovative and precise with their forward movement and maintain a sturdy defensive shape. A win can be a major confidence booster for the young players and raise their self-belief levels of being able to defeat a prominent AFC team. A draw won’t be the worst thing, but a crushing loss can impact the team morale.

Uzbekistan U20

The Uzbekistan U20 women’s team had a difficult outing in the 2024 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup, which they hosted. They lost all three games, conceding 17 goals and scoring zero. However, the Uzbekistan players are raring to qualify for the next edition and aim to get some momentum on their side by getting positive results against India.

The Uzbekistan U20 players will look to maintain a sturdy defensive shape to frustrate their opponents and be clinical on the transitions as well. A nasty loss can be major downer for the Uzbekistan U20 side, but a win or draw can be huge in raising their confidence levels ahead of the qualifiers.

Uzbekistan U20’s 23-member squad for these friendlies against India includes four players who travelled to Bengaluru in May with the senior team for the two FIFA friendlies against Indi

Team News

India U20

Joakim Alexandersson has travelled with a pretty strong squad of players. This also includes goalkeeper Monalisha Devi Moirangthem, who is coming off helping the Indian senior team qualify for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup after making an appearance in the qualifiers.

The team saw a last-minute change as Anika Devi Sharubam replaced goalkeeper Melody Chanu Keisham due to the latter being ill.

Uzbekistan U20

Uzbekistan U20 should have a fully fit squad available for these two friendlies as well.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first time that the India U20 Women’s Team and the Uzbekistan U20 Women’s Team will face one another.

India U20 Probable Lineup

Monalisha Devi (GK), Cindy Colney, Sahena TH, Shubhangi Singh, Viksit Bara, Pooja, Neha Sillay, Anju Chanu, Sulanajan Raul, Lhingdeikim Kipgen, Sibani Nongmeikapam

Player to Watch

Lhingdeikim Kipgen

The Indian U20 women’s team will be aiming to play on the front foot against Uzbekistan U20 in order to gain some more momentum. India’s attacking style will be definitely benefitting someone like Lhingdeikim Kipgen, who has been a standout up-and-coming performer in the Indian Women’s Youth football system. Kipgen has actually even played for the Indian National Women’s team, scoring four goals in a 11-1 thrashing of Maldives earlier on in 2025.

She will look to add more goals to her India U20 tally by producing some efficient performances in the upcoming games. Kipgen is blesse with impressive pace and close control, that allows her to torment opposition players. She will look to weave her way into key positions in the final third and put away chances ruthlessly to help her side get a big win over Uzbekistan U20.

Did you know?

• Eight of India U20 players have already made their debut for the India senior women’s team.
• Uzbekistan U20 Women have qualified for the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup five times, but only won one match in five editions.
• The last time that India U20 qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup was back in 2006.

Telecast

The friendly game between India U20 Women’s team and the Uzbekistan U20 Women’s team will take place on Sunday, 13 July. It will kick off at 8:30 PM IST. The broadcast details for these matches have not been released yet.

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