India 1 Chinese Taipei 3
A beautiful evening in Parramatta was a stark contrast to last night’s rainy conditions, the final round of group games in Group C coming to a close with what looked like a mismatch on paper. India, battered beyond submission by Japan on the weekend, up against Chinese Taipei, who had surprised Vietnam and who needed just a draw to mathematically qualify for the knockout rounds of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. With the two countries considered relative minnows, Chinese Taipei ranked 40th in the world against India ranked 67th, both were ahead of Iran and Bangladesh in the women’s world rankings. If stats could be trusted, this would be a good standard of football and we would see Chinese Taipei advance at a canter. But that’s the beauty of our world game; anything can happen!
The Welcome to Country was played on screen, no need for Uncle or Auntie to talk us through the process live in person, the crowd was perhaps 1,500 so far to see the now traditional pre-game ritual. The royal-sounding anthems had the players puffing out their chests in pride, facing their respective flags, all of the players shaking hands with the Australian-heavy referee team, only the Thai fourth official not from the local A-League. Chinese Taipei kept their opponents waiting as they had an extended huddle and they were immediately on the defensive, a sliced clearance out for a corner. Soumya Guguloth got her head to Sanju’s perfect corner, the ball bouncing onto the post before being hacked away. India were not here to make up the numbers, but they would have to be on high alert when Wu Kai Ching played in Chen Jin-Wen who clipped a superb shot just past the fingers of Elangbam Panthoi but past the far post.
Manisha was the next to attack, Soumya Guguloth running on to her through ball to shoot just past the post. This was a fantastic start to the game, India not fazed by their opponents, and it was difficult to tell who was the higher ranked team. Pyari Xaxa’s pace on the left got her into the box, but the final pass was cleared. For all of India’s endeavour early in the game, all it took was a dreadful back pass to undo all that good work, Sanju gifting the ball to Chen Jin-Wen who crossed for the unmarked Su Yu-Hsuan to tap into the empty net for 1-0. A corner from Manisha fell kindly for Pyari Xaxa, who tried to force the goal, bringing VAR into the game for the first time for a possible handball and penalty check.
Attacking dynamo Sanfida Nongrum was lively, her combinations with the physical Manisha bringing India closer to finding the clear chance, but the Chinese Taipei defence was simple and effective. A Chinese flag fluttered under the lights of the concourse in the Eastern stand before disappearing from view. Sanfida Nongrum almost got on the end of a lung-busting run and cross from the left from Pyari Xaxa, and with goalkeeper Wang Yu-Ting down, we had our first injury stoppage of the night. At this stage, Chinese Taipei had booked their passage through to the knockout stages and in the other game Vietnam were trying to stem the flow against Japan to snatch a third-place berth against one of the group stage table-toppers.
Wu Kai Ching dragged a shot wide when played through by Chang Chi-Lan, it should have been the second goal, but Chinese Taipei were always susceptible to giving the ball away cheaply and Pyari Xaxa cut in to fire a shot wide. Wang Yu-Ting was asked to hurry up by referee Casey Reibelt, but the major talking point came when Soumya Guguloth was shoved to the ground off the ball by the rattled Huang Ke-Sin, the referee quick to produce the yellow card. The replay was eagerly awaited and the possible red card call suggested an upgrade in colour for the seemingly unprovoked attack, but VAR sided with the referee and Chinese Taipei survived the check.
Manisha lined up the free kick from thirty yards out and put her laces right through the ball, the shot sailing through the air and striking the underside of the bar, bouncing on or over the line and out. The India players were convinced it was over the line, and thankfully we had VAR to review the moment from enough angles to be positive that the ball was indeed over the line. What a strike! The surprise and delight from the India players was a joy to behold, and this was surely one of the goals of the tournament. The referee took a firm pass from Manisha to the head and looked dazed for a moment – could this be the first concussion sub for the officials’ team?
Manisha raced past her defender on the left but chose to shoot instead of crossing, before Chen Yu-Chin broke through at the other end and teased Elangbam Panthoi from her goal, the goalkeeper taking the ball full in the face to keep the half going with a lengthy stoppage. Chen Ying-Hui then played in Saki Matsunaga over the top with three Chinese Taipei attackers free, but all she won was a corner. The ball was recycled from the cross to Chen Ying-Hui who drilled in a cross; Sangita Basfore stuck out a hand and the referee pointed straight to the spot. It was a cruel way to end such an excellent half from India. What was even more cruel was when Elangbam Panthoi guessed the right way, and the scuffed penalty struck the post and rebounded off the back of her shoulder, rolling slowly into the net in front to the prone goalkeeper’s anguish.
An exciting first half had zipped by, India edging it with their willingness to get forward, but the scoreboard didn’t lie, Chinese Taipei consolidating their second place in the group stage ladder and the promise of a thrilling second half to come.
India were magnificent at the beginning of the second half, Shilky Devi Hemam firing wildly wide after a sustained period of crisp passing and meaningful possession. Manisha embarked on an exciting run and shot which ended up being well wide – after scoring that first-half screamer, it was certainly worth a go! Chen Yu-Chin raced through the middle for Chinese Taipei as the crowd chanted Tai-wan Tai-wan, she cut onto her left foot but skewed the chance wide, the belated offside flag up to save her blushes. It was time for a period of sustained pressure from the all-white Chinese Taipei, Huang Ke-Sin had to score at the far post meeting a cross from Chen Jin-Wen, but made a complete mess of it and Elangbam Panthoi picked the ball up easily. This was relentless, Sangita Basfore did brilliantly to throw herself in front of Chen Jin-Wen to block a clear shot on goal, before an injury to goalkeeper Wang Yu-Ting gave us some respite from the intense action.
Su Yu-Hsuan took advantage of a deflected through ball. She was offside, but was not interfering with play when the deflection fell her way, and finished easily. The referee had other ideas though and deemed her position to be offside, and not even worthy of a VAR check. Substitute Rimpa Haaldar looked lively, switching from left to right to terrorise her defenders, but her crossing was off after all the good work. With the scoreline in the other game in the group rendering this result academic, Chinese Taipei could relax, and they pressed forward looking to embellish their scoreline. Su Yu-Hsuan should have scored when a looping cross from the left was missed by her defender, but she didn’t catch the shot well, and the maroon-clad Indian team knew that they still had a chance of getting an unlikely result. Chen Jin-Wen chose to shoot instead of square the ball to her teammate, the ball rolling harmlessly wide, before we had our third goal, Chen Yu-Chin easily beating the offside trap and evading goalkeeper Elangbam Panthoi to tap home as the keeper collided sickeningly with her defender leaving them both on the deck requiring treatment. The goalkeeper looked to be the less injured of the two, but when she flopped to the ground for a second time, a backup stretcher was called, the Indian physio pleading with the referee to get further help. It was a sorry sight seeing both players carried away on their respective stretchers, much concern for the goalkeeper, with her neck being cradled by the Indian physio.
Shreya Hooda was now in goal, and India rallied, attacking on the right through the busy Rimpa Haaldar. A somewhat hopeful 3,648 was announced as the crowd as Saki Matsunaga went up against Juli Kishan who had a handful of shirt, the ball behind for a corner. Chen Jin-Wen was harshly penalised for a foul on playmaker Sanfida Nongrum and superstar Manisha launched another long-range missile from the set piece that took a wicked deflection to send the Chinese Taipei goalkeeper scurrying to tap the ball behind for a corner. Manisha was dragged down for another yellow out on the right and her intentionally whipped free kick bounced off the bar. The five-star attacking performance from Manisha was almost complete when she headed against the post from the resulting deep corner. A flurry of yellow cards were handed out by the trigger-happy referee as the six minutes of added time concluded and the two teams assembled to shake hands with the officials. In a lovely touch, the entire Chinese Taipei squad went to the India dugout to shake hands with the whole India entourage, exchanging bows and smiles, before both teams headed to their fans who were by now side by side in the East stand.
Western Sydney Stadium had hosted its final game of the AFC Womens Asian Cup 2026, despite the venue being ideally suited to the quarter-final and semi-final clashes now that Australia were in Western Australia. This had been a fitting end, both teams in jubilant mood with their delighted fans. Chinese Taipei had booked their place against China in a red-hot quarter-final that should be a bridge too far, but now it was time to celebrate for the Blue Magpies. For India, tonight had all been about striking sensation Manisha and midfield playmaker Sanfida Nongrum, who had both been magnificent. If we see a better strike than Manisha’s long-range piledriver, in off the bar, then we will be in for a treat in the remaining games. See you at Stadium Australia on the weekend!