Paris 2024 Olympics women’s football qualifiers: India’s chances dim after loss to Vietnam

The Indian football team lost 3-1 to Vietnam in its second Group C match of the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifiers second round at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent on Sunday. 

Huynh Nhu (4’), Tran Linh (22’) and Pham Hai Yen (73’) scored for Vietnam while Sandhiya Ranganathan (80’) scored the solitary goal for India. 

The loss essentially ends the Indian women’s football team’s chances of qualifying for the third and final round of the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers scheduled in February as only the top teams from the three groups (A–C), along with the best runners-up, will make the cut.

India, who lost to Japan 7-0 in their opening match, currently sit at the bottom of Group C with no points from two matches. The other three teams in the group - Uzbekistan, Japan and Vietnam - each have three points already.

Vietnam, 34th in the latest FIFA women’s football rankings, got off the blocks quickly following the start of the match and took the lead inside the first five minutes after Nguyen Dung raced own the right wing and put in a cross for Huynh Nhu, who headed in past Indian goalkeeper Elangbam Panthoi.

World No. 61 India struggled to match up to the pace and intensity of the Vietnamese players, who created havoc in the Indian half. Huynh Nhu, in fact, could’ve completed her hat-trick in the first 15 minutes.

The Vietnamese striker had Panthoi beat with another header but the post came to India’s rescue and seconds later Panthoi had to be in full stretch to deny Nhu’s driven free-kick for distance.

Vietnam, however, continued probing and finally found a second goal through Tran Linh, who dove in to meet Nguyen Thuy’s cross. India’s only meaningful chance of the half came in the 36th minute after Anju Tamang brought down Ritu Rani’s cross near the opposition goal but the danger was cleared before the Indian forward could make something out of it.

In the second-half, India head coach Thomas Dennerby made a couple of substitutes to curb Vietnam’s dominance. Sangita Basfore and Astam Oraon came in for Bala Devi and Ashalata Devi, respectively.

The changes, however, did little to increase India’s offensive prowess as Vietnam continued to attack in waves and pegged the Indian players back in their own half.

India fell 3-0 behind around the 75-minute mark with Pham Hai Yen beating Panthoi with a header, again. With 10 minutes of regulation time to play, however, India pulled one back with Sandhiya Ranganathan registering India’s first goal of the tournament.

The Indian women's football team will play Uzbekistan next on Wednesday at the Milliy Stadium.

The first round of the AFC Women's Olympic qualifying tournament was played in April. India beat the Kyrgyz Republic 5-0 and 4-0 in the two-legged playoff in Bishkek to qualify for the second round.

While the Indian men’s football team has made four appearances at the Olympic Games, the Indian women’s football team is yet to make its debut at the quadrennial event.