The draw ceremony for Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup, which is set to be hosted by India in 2022, will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
There is excitement around Asia's marquee women's national team competition following the completion of the enthralling qualifiers where Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Korea Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam secured their spots to the finals.
They will join the top three teams from the 2018 showpiece - Japan, Australia and China PR - alongside host India when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup India 2022 takes place from January 20 to February 6 with the theme 'Our Goal for All'.
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President, said: "I must congratulate the qualifiers who make up the leading 12 teams and will contend for the prestigious trophy next year." "The AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 is set to celebrate women's football which has grown tremendously over the years and the competition will be the ideal stage for our stars to showcase their undeniable talent and inspire the future generation of women footballers on the Continent," he added. According to a release, the contenders for the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 will be separated into four pots based on their ranking from the previous edition. At the end of the draw, 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four teams with host India placed in Pot 1 alongside reigning champions Japan and Australia, while Pot 2 will feature China PR, Thailand and the Korea Republic.
Philippines, Vietnam and the Islamic Republic of Iran, who made history by qualifying to the Finals for the first time, will occupy Pot 3 while Chinese Taipei, Myanmar and Indonesia are placed in Pot 4. The draw will start from Pot 4 with the first ball drawn placed in position A4 while the remaining balls drawn will be added in positions B4 and C4. The same applies to Pots 3 and 2 while India will be drawn first from Pot 1 and placed in A1. The remaining teams drawn will fit into B1 and C1. The AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 will add further drama and excitement with the leading five teams earning direct tickets to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The next best two teams from the play-off matches will also represent Asia at the Inter-Confederation play-off matches.
( With inputs from ANI )
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