women’s football
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Expansion
The Indian women’s football team has been drawn in a tough Group C along with Japan, Vietnam and hosts Uzbekistan for the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers Round 2. The qualifiers were drawn on Thursday and the tournament will be played from October 23 to November 1. India had qualified for Round-2 by defeating Kyrgyzstan 5-0 and 4-0.
The Indian team is the lowest ranked team (61) in Group-C. At the same time, the world ranking of 2012 Olympic silver medalist Japan is 11. This year’s Women’s World Cup debutant Vietnam is ranked 33rd and Uzbekistan is ranked 50th. India had topped the Round-1 qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan. Apart from this, the Indian team lost 2-3 in injury time in a friendly against Uzbekistan.
India last played against Vietnam in a friendly in 2019 where the match ended in a 1-1 draw. And the last time India lost to Japan was in the 1997 Asian Women’s Championship. Four teams, including the winners and best runners-up of the three groups, will advance to Round 3, which will be played in a home-and-away format. Two spots from Asia have been reserved for the women’s football event for next year’s Olympics.
