Paris 2024 Olympics women’s football qualifiers: India to play Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan in first round - full draw
The first round of the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be played from April 3 to 11.
Football
The Indian women’s football team has been drawn with Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan in the first round of the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held in April. The draw took place at Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.
Placed in Group G, India will take on the Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan in a single round-robin format at a centralised venue from April 3 to 11. The venue will be announced later.
The Indian women’s football team is currently placed 61st in the FIFA rankings. The Kyrgyz Republic are world No. 124 while Turkmenistan are placed 137.
In the first round, 26 Asian teams will play. They have been divided into five groups of four and two groups of three teams.
The seven group winners from the first round will join Asia’s five highest-ranked teams - North Korea, Japan, Australia, China and South Korea - in the second round of the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s football qualifiers to be held in October.
The three group winners and one best-placed runner-up from the second round will play for the two spots for Paris 2024 Olympics in the final round to be held in November-December 2023.
For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, AFC’s Olympic qualifying tournament for women consisted of four rounds. India made it to the second round of the tournament but lost out to Myanmar on goal difference.
Currently, India are the 12th best-ranked team from Asia. 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.
Paris 2024 Olympics women’s football qualifiers round 1 draw
Group A: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Timor-Leste, Bhutan
Group B: Myanmar, IR Iran, Bangladesh, Maldives
Group C: Vietnam, Nepal, Palestine, Afghanistan
Group D: Thailand, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Group E: Philippines, Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Pakistan
Group F: Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Lebanon
Group G: India, Kyrygz Republic, Turkmenistan