New Delhi, Feb 20 The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday retained eight seasoned players, who were part of the teams in the previous edition, and included six uncapped players in the 26-member Indian women's senior squad, which will represent the country in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, to be played in Australia.
Placed in Group C, India will begin their campaign against Vietnam on March 4 at the Perth Rectangular Stadium at 16:30 IST, followed by a meeting against Japan on March 7 at the same time and venue. The last group stage match will be against Chinese Taipei on March 10 at the Western Sydney Stadium at 14:30 IST.
The top two sides from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams, will progress to the quarterfinals. The four quarterfinal winners will qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027. The losing quarterfinalists will contest the play-offs for the two remaining direct spots allocated to the AFC for the World Cup. The two play-off losers will have another chance of qualifying for Brazil via the Play-off Tournament.
After a four-week camp in Türkiye, the Blue Tigresses reached Perth on February 11.
Among the 26 players in the squad, eight were part of the last Asian Cup that was hosted by India in 2022: Sweety Devi Ngangbam, Shilky Devi Hemam, Sanju, Anju Tamang, Pyari Xaxa, Grace Dangmei, Manisha Kalyan, and Sowmiya Narayanasamy. However, India had to withdraw from the tournament after just one game due to a COVID outbreak in the team.
In the squad that will battle it out in Australia, there are six potential debutants who are yet to be capped for India — defenders Sarita Yumnam and Sushmita Lepcha, midfielders Jasoda Munda, Sanfida Nongrum, and Aveka Singh, and forward Kaviya Pakkirisamy.
Grace Dangmei is the highest-capped player and top-scorer in India's squad with 23 goals in 91 appearances. Born in 1995, Anju Tamang is the senior-most player at 30 years old. As she was in the 2022 edition, Shilky Devi Hemam is the youngest in the Indian squad, now 20 years old.
As far as club representation is concerned, East Bengal FC have the most players in India's Asian Cup squad — eight, followed by Sethu FC with six and Sribhumi FC with four. Aveka Singh and Manisha Kalyan, who play for Næstved HG (Denmark) and Alianza Lima (Peru), respectively, are the only two players who play for clubs abroad.
India's squad for AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026:
Goalkeepers: Panthoi Chanu Elangbam, Shreya Hooda, Sowmiya Narayanasamy.
Defenders: Astam Oraon, Juli Kishan, Martina Thokchom, Nirmala Devi Phanjoubam, Sanju, Sarita Yumnam, Shilky Devi Hemam, Sushmita Lepcha, Sweety Devi Ngangbam.
Midfielders: Anju Tamang, Aveka Singh, Babina Devi Lisham, Jasoda Munda, Sanfida Nongrum, Sangita Basfore.
Forwards: Grace Dangmei, Kaviya Pakkirisamy, Lynda Kom Serto, Malavika P, Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa, Rimpa Haldar, Soumya Guguloth.
Head coach: Amelia Valverde
Assistant coach: Crispin Chettri
Assistant coach: Priya PV
Goalkeeping coach: Eli Ávila
Goalkeeping coach: Mario Aguiar
Strength and conditioning coach: José Sánchez.
--IANS
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor