Football 

PHÚ THỌ  Việt Nam confirmed their place in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 finals in fine style with a perfect record in Group E which ended on July 5 in Phú Thọ Province.

Việt Nam coach Mai Đức Chung was pleased with his players in not just the 4-0 win over Guam in the last match, which confirmed Việt Nam the top spot with a maximum nine points, but also their performance during the qualifying campaign.

Chung and his side have now secured a 10th consecutive appearance at the finals of this continental competition.

Việt Nam took the lead in the first minute after Huỳnh Như’s cross slipped past Isabella Hara and into the path of Nguyễn Thị Vạn for an easy tap-in.

Pegged back in their own half, an error in the 13th minute saw Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy pouncing on a poor pass by Guam's Ariya Cruz inside the box to fire home Việt Nam’s second.

Như was in the thick of the action again 12 minutes later when she wriggled past Kaia Villanueva before unleashing a shot which deflected into the path of Thùy to volley past Hara.

Guam were more solid at the back in the second half but there was no denying Việt Nam as they furthered their advantage in the 73rd minute through Lê Thị Diễm My’s header.

In the other match of the group, United Arab Emirates closed out their qualifiers with a 5-0 win over the Maldives.

Fathimath Afzra starred with a hat-trick to seal the Emirati side their first win as they finished on four points, with Maldives returning home with three defeats. 

Fatima Jassem and Maitha Alhazmi added UAE’s fourth and fifth goals to seal the win.

Coach Chung said after the win: “Guam had superior physique and fitness, but my team played cohesively, using short balls instead of long passes. They strictly followed the tactics and scored worthy goals."

The coach  believed that qualifying for the finals pushed Việt Nam, which scored 17 goals and conceded none at the Việt Trì Stadium, closer to the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 target.

“Football is always full of surprises, but we all have the hope of participating in the second World Cup, he said.

"I hope my players continue to work hard, improve every day and make breakthroughs."

 

He said in this qualifying round, his team didn't well prepare due to limited time. If they had more time players would definitely score better and get more goals.

Some good players could not join his side this time for different reasons. He hoped that they would do it better in the Finals which is the second qualification round of the World Cup 2027.

Guam coach Kimberly Sherman said it was a tough game for her side as Việt Nam were really strong and experienced.

The result was not expected but her players showed their great spirit and determination.

Sherman was proud as players didn’t collapse after conceding an early goal and felt they did better job in the second half and learned a lot from the match and the tournament.

Later, the Việt Nam Football Federation sent congratulations to the host team and gave them a bonus of VNĐ600 million (US$22,800) which was to promote their victory and encourage them to be successful in the finals on March 1-21, 2026, in Australia. VNS