2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup

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]

2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup
كأس آسيا لكرة القدم للسيدات 2018
Tournament details
Host countryJordan
CityAmman
Dates6–20 April
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Japan (2nd title)
Runners-up Australia
Third place China PR
Fourth place Thailand
Tournament statistics
Matches played17
Goals scored66 (3.88 per match)
Attendance31,537 (1,855 per match)
Top scorer(s) Li Ying (7 goals)
Best player(s) Mana Iwabuchi
Fair play award Japan

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 defeated Thailand 3–1.[5]

Qualification
Main article: 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup 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]
 JordanHosts2ndGroup stage (2014)51
 Japan2014 champions16thChampions (2014)11
 Australia2014 runners-up6thChampions (2010)6
 China PR2014 third place14thChampions (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006)17
 PhilippinesGroup A runners-up[note 1]9thGroup stage (1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003)72
 South KoreaGroup B winners12thThird place (2003)16
 ThailandGroup C winners16thChampions (1983)30
 VietnamGroup D winners8thGroup stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014)35

Notes:

  1. Since the Group A winners Jordan already automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts, Philippines also qualified for the final tournament as runners-up.[11]

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in the city of Amman.

Amman
Amman
Amman International StadiumKing Abdullah II Stadium
Capacity: 17,619Capacity: 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
  1.  Jordan (hosts)
  2.  Japan

Squads
Main article: 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup 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
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 Bte Mohd 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]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. 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;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  8. 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);
  9. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, EEST (UTC+3).[16]

Schedule
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 PR 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
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
China PR 4–0 Thailand
 Report
Attendance: 5,060
Jordan 1–2 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 9,473
Philippines 0–3 China PR
Report
Attendance: 226
Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia)
Thailand 6–1 Jordan
 Report
Attendance: 5,000
Jordan 1–8 China PR
 Report
Attendance: 4,428
Referee: Công Thị Dung (Vietnam)
Thailand 3–1 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 512
Referee: Oh Hyeon-jeong (South Korea)

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 3 1 2 0 9 1 +8 5[lower-alpha 1] Knockout stage and
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
2  Japan 3 1 2 0 5 1 +4 5[lower-alpha 1]
3  South Korea 3 1 2 0 4 0 +4 5[lower-alpha 1] 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup playoff
4  Vietnam 3 0 0 3 0 16 −16 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 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 are ranked third on head-to-head goals scored. Australia and Japan are tied on their own head-to-head result, and are ranked on total goal difference.
Japan 4–0 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 142
Referee: Thein Thein Aye (Myanmar)
Australia 0–0 South Korea
Report
Attendance: 230
Referee: Qin Liang (China)
South Korea 0–0 Japan
Report
Attendance: 356
Referee: Qin Liang (China)
Vietnam 0–8 Australia
Report
Attendance: 401
Referee: Edita Mirabidova (Uzbekistan)
Japan 1–1 Australia
 Report
Attendance: 446
South Korea 4–0 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 86
Referee: Mahsa Ghorbani (Iran)

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-finalsFinal
 
      
 
17 April – King Abdullah II
 
 
 China PR1
 
20 April – Amman International
 
 Japan3
 
 Japan1
 
17 April – King Abdullah II
 
 Australia0
 
 Australia (p)2 (3)
 
 
 Thailand2 (1)
 
Third place match
 
 
20 April – Amman International
 
 
 China PR3
 
 
 Thailand1
 
Fifth place match
 
  
 
16 April – Amman International
 
 
 Philippines0
 
 
 South Korea5
 

Fifth place match

Winner qualified for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Philippines 0–5 South Korea
Report
Attendance: 418
Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia)

Semi-finals
Australia 2–2 (a.e.t.) Thailand
 Report
Penalties
 3–1
Attendance: 166
Referee: Edita Mirabidova (Uzbekistan)
China PR 1–3 Japan
 Report
Attendance: 502

Third place match
China PR 3–1 Thailand
 Report
Attendance: 1,026

Final
Main article: 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup Final
Japan 1–0 Australia
 Report
Attendance: 3,065

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Most Valuable Player[17] Top Scorer[18] Fairplay Award[19]
Mana Iwabuchi Li Ying (7 goals)  Japan

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

2 own goals

Qualified teams for FIFA Women's World Cup

The following five teams from AFC qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup1
 China PR9 April 2018[20]6 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015)
 Thailand12 April 2018[21]1 (2015)
 Australia13 April 2018[22]6 (19952, 19992, 20032, 2007, 2011, 2015)
 Japan13 April 2018[22]7 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015)
 South Korea16 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]

References
  1. "Jordan to host AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 finals". AFC. 4 September 2016.
  2. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2018". AFC. 11 January 2018.
  3. "AFC WOMEN'S COMMITTEE MAKES KEY DECISIONS". AFC. 22 September 2017.
  4. "Circular #1565 - FIFA women's tournaments 2018-2019" (PDF). FIFA.com. 11 November 2016.
  5. "Yokoyama the hero as Japan emerge champions". the-afc.com. 20 April 2018.
  6. "Teams learn AFC Women's Asian Cup Jordan 2018 qualifying opponents". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  7. "Teams set to find out path to AFC Women's Asian Cup Jordan 2018". AFC. 20 January 2017.
  8. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017 (UPDATED)" (PDF). the-AFC.com. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  9. "Line-up complete for AFC Women's Asian Cup Jordan 2018". AFC. 13 April 2017.
  10. "Women's Ranking – 23 March 2018 (AFC)". FIFA.com.
  11. "Philippines qualify for the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup". AFC. 10 April 2017.
  12. "Contenders to learn AFC Women's Asian Cup fate at official draw". AFC. 8 December 2017.
  13. "AFC Women's Asian Cup draw pairs heavyweights Japan and Australia". AFC. 9 December 2017.
  14. "AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Official Draw". YouTube. 9 December 2017.
  15. "AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Competition Regulations". AFC.
  16. "Match Schedule". AFC Women's Asian Cup Jordan 2018. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  17. "Iwabuchi credits Japan team unity for MVP accolade". AFC. 20 April 2018.
  18. "Li Ying lands Top Scorer award". AFC. 20 April 2018.
  19. "Yokoyama the hero as Japan emerge champions". AFC. 20 April 2018.
  20. "China PR book ticket to France 2019". FIFA.com. 9 April 2018.
  21. "Thailand qualify for second successive Women's World Cup". FIFA.com. 12 April 2018.
  22. "Australia and Japan qualify for France 2019". FIFA.com. 13 April 2018.
  23. "Korea Republic secure France 2019 qualification". FIFA.com. 16 April 2018.
  24. "Le Sports Acquires China Rights For AFC". 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  25. "Continental becomes Official Sponsor of 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
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