Indian women hope to extend perfect run in AFC qualifiers

India face Iraq in their third AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifier, aiming to extend their unbeaten run. With six points and strong momentum, India prepare confidently despite injury concerns and upcoming challenges

Hyderabad: The Indian senior women’s team will face Iraq on Wednesday at Chiang Mai Stadium in Thailand, aiming to extend its perfect run in Group B of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.

The match will be streamed live on the Changsuek YouTube channel and Thai Women’s Football Facebook page.

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India currently sit at the top of the table with six points and a goal difference of +17 after wins against Mongolia (13-0) and Timor-Leste (4-0).

Thailand are in second, also with six points, but with a goal difference of +11. Iraq have already played three games and are on four points. They must defeat India to have any chance of staying alive on the road to Australia.

“Thailand is the last match, but for now, our full focus is on Iraq. We shouldn’t worry about how many goals Thailand or we have scored, or will score. The priority is to approach the Iraq match with a positive mindset and go for the win. Getting those three points is the most important thing. It will set us up to go into the Thailand game with full confidence and nine points with us,” said head coach Crispin Chettri.

Giving his opinion on the Iraq side, coached by their former men’s international Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail and ranked 103 places below India, Chettri said for him Iraq was not as weak as people might think. “They’re a good side, but they’ve been playing back-to-back matches, so we may have an advantage in terms of recovery,” he said.

“Overall, I don’t see a big difference between Iraq and Timor-Leste. I feel Timor-Leste was more organised. So, I think we’ll get more opportunities to play our game against Iraq. It should be a good match for us to try a few new things as well,” Chettri said.

“More or less, all players have gotten chances. Of course, we cannot take the Iraq match lightly. There may be some rotation, but key players will still get minutes. Giving game time to upcoming players is important at such a stage, but in crucial matches, we’ll have to stick to a core group. If we manage to score early, then we may be able to rotate more freely,” he said.

“We worked on the areas where we fell short in the matches against both Timor-Leste and Mongolia. We’re now giving players specific responsibilities, whether it’s in attack or in 1v1 defending. That was the main focus of the preparation,” said Chettri.

Winger Soumya Guguloth, who suffered a nasal bone fracture during the match against Timor-Leste, has been ruled out of Wednesday’s match.