Women’s Asian Cup 2026: Philippines and North Korea secure World Cup place
The two nations secured victory in their qualification play-in games and will compete at 2027 Women's World Cup
The four defeated quarter-finalists of the 2026 Asian Cup faced off for the AFC’s two remaining direct tickets to the 2027 World Cup. The Philippines triumphed over Uzbekistan, while North Korea dominated against Chinese Taipei.
Uzbekistan 0-2 Philippines
The hosts for the next edition of the Women’s Asian Cup, Uzbekistan had already enjoyed a historic campaign at the end of the group stage as they secured progression to the knockouts of a major tournament for the first time ever. However, they were not satisfied with just that, as they immediately turned their attention to the next target of World Cup qualification.
Both they and the Philippines were massive underdogs in their respective quarter-finals, so they heavily rotated their lineups in preparation for this playoff. Even though most of the starters for this fixture were fresh, the match got off to an incredibly cagey start. The two teams were incredibly cautious so as not to make any costly mistakes on this big occasion, but that resulted in almost no noteworthy chances being created for the first half an hour.
The Philippines were the more experienced side at such a stage, having made their World Cup debut down under in 2023 after qualifying via the 2022 Asian Cup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the Philippines who made the first moves to seize more of the initiative and start posing something of an attacking threat. It wasn’t one of their experienced campaigners leading the charge, but rather teenage winger Jael-Marie Guy who looked the liveliest with the ball at her feet.
The score remained 0-0 at half-time, but Guy would deliver telling contributions right after the break. She set up left winger Angela Beard for the opener with a pinpoint left-footed cross, before quickly going on to produce a similarly inviting delivery with her right foot for Jaclyn Sawicki’s header. Just like that, the Filipinas were two goals to the good less than 10 minutes into the second half.
Uzbekistan’s attack never quite clicked despite the best efforts of some of their forwards and tactical changes from coach Kotryna Kulbytė, they did eventually fashion a couple of openings. Olivia McDaniel was not beaten in goal, so the Philippines managed the game relatively comfortably on the whole to see out an all-important win.
Chinese Taipei 0-4 North Korea
Chinese Taipei and North Korea had arguably been the best of the rest at the tournament, but only one of them could get a direct spot at next year’s World Cup since they faced off in the second play-in match.
Both sides were looking to make long-awaited returns to the big show. Chinese Taipei last participated in the inaugural edition of the Fifa Women’s World Cup way back in 1991 in China, while North Korea have been absent since 2011 as the team was rocked by a doping scandal soon thereafter. The latter were the favourites for this match as they had pushed semi-finalists China and Australia to the limit in previous games, and they gave a great account of their quality here.
Chinese Taipei struggled to get to grips with North Korea’s intensity from the off, allowing Ri Song-ho’s side to grow their dominance both in terms of possession and territory. They certainly weren’t looking to pass the ball around aimlessly at all, as they constantly looked to play forward quickly and put a lot of balls into the box. It was a cross that eventually breached the defence, as Hong Song-Ok turned the ball in after a moment of indecision by the goalkeeper just past the half-hour mark.
North Korea ended the first half with over 75% possession having outshot their opponents 23-2, but they showed no signs of letting up. Hong got her second quickly after the break with a header this time, and Kim Kyong-Yong made it three in no time after a similar move. Hong went on to complete her hat-trick by pouncing on a loose ball, putting the result beyond doubt with over 20 minutes left on the clock.
Chinese Taipei never managed to muster anything resembling a response to their opponents’ front-footedness, as they struggled to get out of their own half and often looked disarrayed against crosses. They ended up getting outshot 42-4 in the end and couldn’t even register a shot on target, so Prasobchoke Chokemor will have a good deal to analyse and work on from this match.
What Next?
The Philippines and North Korea join the four semi-finalists to complete the delegation of six AFC teams that have directly qualified for the 2027 World Cup. The dream is not yet over for Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei either, as they will enter the inter-confederation play-off at the end of this year.
In the immediate term, all eyes turn back to Sydney for the 2026 Asian Cup final between Australia and Japan on Saturday night.