RIYADH March 30, 2025 — The Saudi women’s national football team will participate in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers for the first time, marking a significant milestone in the Kingdom’s women’s football development.
The 2026 tournament will be hosted in Australia, with qualifiers starting on June 23 in centralized venues across Asia.
Established in 2021, Saudi Arabia’s women’s team played its first international matches in February 2022, securing wins over Seychelles and the Maldives. The team entered the FIFA Women’s World Ranking in March 2023 at 171st and has since risen to 166th.
Despite being a young squad, Saudi Arabia has demonstrated strong progress, winning the 2023 SAFF Women’s International Friendly Tournament and now aiming to make an impact on the continental stage.
Saudi Arabia is one of 18 teams seeking their first-ever Asian Cup finals appearance, alongside nations like the UAE, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine, and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, former champions North Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand return to the qualifiers, seeking to reclaim the title.
The qualification draw will take place on March 27, with teams divided into eight groups—six groups of four and two groups of five.
Group winners will qualify for the finals, joining hosts Australia and the top three teams from the 2022 edition: China (champions), South Korea (runners-up), and Japan (third place).
Matches will be hosted in centralized venues in Cambodia, Indonesia, Jordan, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Teams will be drawn from five seeding pots based on FIFA Women’s World Rankings (as of March 6). Saudi Arabia is in Pot 4 alongside Singapore, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and the Maldives.
Pot 1 features strong contenders such as North Korea, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and Iran, while other pots include regional teams like India, Nepal, Bahrain, the UAE, and Laos.
The final tournament will be held across three host cities in Australia from March 1 to 26, 2026, presenting a historic opportunity for Saudi Arabia’s women’s team to compete in Asia’s premier women’s football competition.