Taiwan qualifies for 2026 Women's Asian Cup with win over Indonesia

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) Taiwan's women's soccer team officially qualified for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia after defeating Indonesia 2-1 in Tangerang, Indonesia, on Saturday to top their qualifying group.

Taiwan got a goal on a long-range strike from substitute Liu Yu-chiao in the 75th minute to break a 1-1 tie to clinch a spot in the Asian Cup.

Taiwan was joined in qualification Group D by Indonesia, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan, with only the winner of the group advancing to Australia.

After Pakistan defeated Kyrgyzstan earlier Saturday, Taiwan was virtually guaranteed of winning the group after an 8-0 win over Pakistan and 3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in its previous two outings.

A loss to Indonesia would have meant Taiwan finished in a three-way tie with the hosts and Pakistan with 2-1 records, but its goal difference would have carried it through to the finals unless it lost by a huge margin.

Saturday's victory gave Taiwan a second straight appearance in the quadrennial Asian Cup finals and a 16th appearance in the tournament.

Taiwan has won the competition three times, first in the second edition of the event in 1977 and again in 1979 and 1981, and it also finished as runners-up in 1989 and 1999.

The last time Taiwan made it as far as the semifinals was in the 1999 tournament in the Philippines.

In the most recent edition of the event in India in 2022, Taiwan made it to the quarterfinals but was taken out by the Philippines in a penalty shoot-out.

A total of 11 teams have qualified for the 2026 Asian Cup finals -- including Australia as the host country, China as the defending champion, and South Korea and Japan, which finished second and third in the 2022 event.

Others who advanced to the final through qualifying were North Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, India, and Bangladesh.

Only one last spot remains open, which will be determined by the winner of Group A consisting of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Singapore and Bhutan that begins play Monday.