Indonesia first on Young Tigresses' crosshairs in AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers

Iyangon [Myanmar], August 6 (ANI): India will kick off their AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Thailand 2026 Qualifiers campaign in Group D against Indonesia on Wednesday at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, with kickoff scheduled for 18:00 IST.
India will aim to qualify for the U20 Women's Asian Cup, a tournament that's also a qualifier for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup, for the fourth time. Led by Swedish head coach Joakim Alexandersson, the Young Tigresses can end a 20-year absence from the competition, having last qualified in 2006. In the 2024 qualifiers, India were eliminated in the first round by the narrowest of margins, on goal difference, by Vietnam. Coincidentally, India met Indonesia in those qualifiers as well, and registered a thumping 6-0 win.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Alexandersson expressed his positivity about India's qualifying chances in a competitive group.
"We prepared for these Qualifiers with a camp of more than two months in good facilities and a good training ground in Bengaluru. Our expectations here are to qualify, of course. We know it's going to be three tough games and the mindset is to win all three and make it to the Asian Cup," said the Swede as quoted by the AIFF press release.
After Indonesia, India will play Turkmenistan (August 8) and host Myanmar (August 10). The group winners and the three best second-placed teams across all eight groups will qualify for the final tournament.
"We've looked into our opponents. We know Myanmar are a good team in Asian football and are supposed to be our strongest opponents. Indonesia have a strong squad as well. Every game will be a different challenge for us to face. We have to take care of them," Alexandersson added.
The Young Tigresses arrived in Yangon on August 1, five days before their first game, to acclimatise to the conditions in Myanmar. The mood in the camp is positive, more so after the solid 4-1 win over Uzbekistan in a preparatory friendly in Tashkent last month.
Defender Shubhangi Singh, who captained India in the friendlies and will also wear the armband in Myanmar, said, "Thanks to our federation, we came to Yangon five days before the game, which was good for us to adapt to the weather. We're going to take things match by match. We respect all opponents but we aren't afraid of anyone. We are confident and our target is to qualify for the Asian Cup."
As part of their preparations, Indonesia played the ASEAN U19 Women's Championship in June, where they finished third. They beat Malaysia 4-0, drew 1-1 with Cambodia, and suffered heavy losses to Thailand (1-6) and Vietnam (0-4), before ultimately defeating Myanmar on penalties to win bronze.
Indonesia's Japanese head coach Akira Higashiyama said, "We are ready for the Qualifiers. Everyone has a chance to win in this competitive group. We know India are pretty strong, but we are fully focussed and ready to face them tomorrow. Our objective is to enjoy the games." (ANI)