Crispin chhetri

Chiang Mai Stadium: India's road to the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 and the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 will officially begin on Monday, when the Blue Tigresses take on Mongolia in the opening match of Group B of the Qualifiers at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium.

India, twice runners-up of the erstwhile Asian Women's Championship in the 1980s, are aiming to make it to the continent's top women's competition for the 10th time and the first via the qualifiers' route. After Mongolia, India will take on Timor Leste on June 29, Iraq on July 2, and hosts Thailand on July 5 in Chiang Mai. Only the group winners will qualify for the 12-team AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026, which will serve as the qualifier for Asian teams for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027.

At the pre-tournament press conference, India coach Crispin Chettri said, "First of all, I would like to thank the Football Association of Thailand for hosting us here. We arrived here earlier this week, and you have been so welcoming. Before that, we were preparing for the qualifiers in India (Bengaluru). We got a chance to play against Uzbekistan in two friendlies.