India senior women’s team coach Crispin Chettri labelled the Blue Tigresses’ group in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 an ‘interesting and tricky’ one.
India were placed in Group C with Japan, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei in the draw ceremony at the Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday.
“I think we have a very interesting, and at the same time, a tricky group. Japan are the cream of Asia. Vietnam and Chinese Taipei are good sides, and we can compete with them and aim for favourable results,” Chettri told the-aiff.com from Australia after the draw.
Midfielder Sangita Basfore had the privilege of being one of the draw assistants and picked out the ball containing her nation. After delicately unrolling the paper and displaying it to the camera, she proudly ‘India!’ in an assertive voice as her eyes beamed with pride.
After all, this was the first time India had earned their place at the Women’s Asian Cup on merit via the qualifiers pathway. And no other woman deserved to be at that stage than Sangita, whose sensational brace in the last match against Thailand punched India’s ticket to Australia.
“It has been a great experience here in Sydney. There are a lot of takeaways from this. Representing the country at this level is surreal,” added Chettri.
India, currently ranked 70th, will begin their campaign against Vietnam (ranked 37th) on March 4, 2026, in Perth, before meeting Japan (ranked 7th) on March 7, also in Perth, and Chinese Taipei (ranked 42nd) on March 10 in Sydney.