2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup
International football competition
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The 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament in Asia competed by the women's national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was originally scheduled to be held in Jordan between 7 and 22 April 2018, but later was changed to 6 to 20 April 2018.[1][2][3]
| كأس آسيا لكرة القدم للسيدات 2018 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Jordan |
| City | Amman |
| Dates | 6–20 April |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 2 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Japan (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Australia |
| Third place |  China |
| Fourth place |  Thailand |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 66 (3.88 per match) |
| Attendance | 31,537 (1,855 per match) |
| Top scorer | Li Ying (7 goals) |
| Best player | Mana Iwabuchi |
| Fair play award | Japan |
← 2014 2022 → | |
The tournament served as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the top five teams qualifying for the World Cup in France.[4]
Japan defeated Australia 1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title. In the third-place match the same day, China PR defeated Thailand 3–1.[5]
Qualification
The draw for the qualifiers was held on 21 January 2017.[6] The top three finishers of the last AFC Women's Cup qualified automatically and did not have to enter qualifying, while Jordan also qualified automatically as hosts but decided to also participate in the qualifying competition.[7] The matches were played from 3 to 12 April 2017.[8]
Qualified teams
The following eight teams qualified for the tournament.[9]
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking at start of event[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jordan | Hosts | 2nd | Group stage (2014) | 51 |
| Japan | 2014 champions | 16th | Champions (2014) | 11 |
| Australia | 2014 runners-up | 6th | Champions (2010) | 6 |
| China | 2014 third place | 14th | Champions (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006) | 17 |
 Philippines | Group A runners-up[note 1] | 9th | Group stage (1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003) | 72 |
 South Korea | Group B winners | 12th | Third place (2003) | 16 |
| Thailand | Group C winners | 16th | Champions (1983) | 30 |
 Vietnam | Group D winners | 8th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014) | 35 |
Notes:
Venues
The competition was played in two venues in the city of Amman.
| Amman | Amman | |
|---|---|---|
| Amman International Stadium | King Abdullah II Stadium | |
 |  | |
| Capacity: 17,619 | Capacity: 13,000 |
Draw
The final draw was held on 9 December 2017, 13:00 EET (UTC+2), at the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Center on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea.[12] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams.[13] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Jordan automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.[14]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Squads
Each team must register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 31.4 and 31.5).[15]
Match officials
A total of 10 referees and 12 assistant referees were appointed for the final tournament.
- Referees
Kate Jacewicz- Casey Reibelt
Qin Liang
Mahsa Ghorbani
Yoshimi Yamashita
Ri Hyang-ok
Oh Hyeon-jeong
Thein Thein Aye
Edita Mirabidova
Công Thị Dung
- Assistant referees
- Cui Yongmei
- Fang Yan
Uvena Fernandes- Ensieh Khabaz
- Maiko Hagio
- Naomi Teshirogi
- Hong Kum-nyo
- Kim Kyoung-min
- Lee Seul-gi
Heba Saadieh
Rohaidah Nasir- Trương Thị Lệ Trinh
Group stage
The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the semi-finals. The third-placed team of each group entered the fifth-placed match.
- Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 11.5):[15]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
- Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
- Drawing of lots.
All times are local, AST (UTC+3).[16]
| Matchday | Dates | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 6–7 April 2018 | 1 v 4, 2 v 3 |
| Matchday 2 | 9–10 April 2018 | 4 v 2, 3 v 1 |
| Matchday 3 | 12–13 April 2018 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 9 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 2 | Thailand |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Philippines |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup playoff |
| 4 | Jordan (H) |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 0 |
| Philippines | 0–3 | China |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Jordan | 1–8 | China |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 5[a] | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 2 | Japan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 5[a] | |
| 3 | South Korea |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 5[a] | 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup playoff |
| 4 | Vietnam |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | −16 | 0 |
- Head-to-head results: Australia 0–0 South Korea, South Korea 0–0 Japan, Japan 1–1 Australia. Head-to-head standings:
- Australia: 2 pts, 0 GD, 1 GF
- Japan: 2 pts, 0 GD, 1 GF
- South Korea: 2 pts, 0 GD, 0 GF
| South Korea | 0–0 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Japan | 1–1 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| South Korea | 4–0 | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary.[15]
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 17 April – King Abdullah II | ||||||
| China | 1 | |||||
| 20 April – Amman International | ||||||
| Japan | 3 | |||||
| Japan | 1 | |||||
| 17 April – King Abdullah II | ||||||
| Australia | 0 | |||||
| Australia (p) | 2 (3) | |||||
| Thailand | 2 (1) | |||||
| Third place match | ||||||
| 20 April – Amman International | ||||||
| China | 3 | |||||
| Thailand | 1 | |||||
| Fifth place match | ||
| 16 April – Amman International | ||
| Philippines | 0 | |
| South Korea | 5 | |
Fifth place match
Winner qualified for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
| Philippines | 0–5 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
Awards
Goalscorers
There were 66 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 3.88 goals per match.
7 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Kanjanaporn Saenkhun (against Australia)- Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung (against Australia)
2 own goals
Yasmeen Khair (against China PR and Philippines)
Qualified teams for FIFA Women's World Cup
The following five teams from AFC qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
| China | 9 April 2018[20] | 6 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015) |
| Thailand | 12 April 2018[21] | 1 (2015) |
| Australia | 13 April 2018[22] | 6 (19952, 19992, 20032, 2007, 2011, 2015) |
| Japan | 13 April 2018[22] | 7 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) |
| South Korea | 16 April 2018[23] | 2 (2003, 2015) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- 2 Australia qualified as a member of the OFC in 1995, 1999 and 2003.
Broadcasting rights and sponsorships
Le Sports acquired the all-media broadcasting and signal production rights in China in 2015,[24] but they collapsed due to financial problems thus giving in all the rights they've acquired and transferred them to China Central Television and PP Sports in 2017. Tire manufacturer Continental announced they would be official sponsor.[25]