Saturday 29 January 2022, 07:00

2023 in sight as Asia’s best prepare for quarter-finals

  • First teams to qualify for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ this year to be confirmed on Sunday 30 January

  • Australia and New Zealand's places already confirmed as co-hosts

  • Top five teams at Women’s Asian Cup 2022, excluding Australia, to qualify automatically, with two play-off spots also available

The qualification process for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ in Asia will take a major step forward this weekend as the knockout stages kick off at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 in India.

With emerging and established names having already starred at the tournament, including the likes of Australia’s Sam Kerr, China PR’s Shuang Wang, Japan’s Yui Narumiya and Korea Republic’s Ji So-Yun, the knockout stage of the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 starting this weekend will see eight teams compete for the five automatic slots that are available to Asia at the expanded FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

With an exciting year of women’s football ahead, the winners of the quarter-final matches at the Women’s Asian Cup 2022, taking place on Sunday, 30 January, will be the first nations to secure qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on the pitch, with Australia and New Zealand having already qualified automatically as co-hosts.

Following the conclusion of the final round of group-stage matches on Thursday, 27 January, the quarter-final line-up for the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 has now been confirmed:

Sunday 30 January (all local times)

  • Australia-Korea Republic (13:30)

  • Japan-Thailand (13:30)

  • China PR-Vietnam (17:30)

  • Chinese Taipei v. Philippines (19:30)

The semi-finals and final of the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will take place on Thursday 3 February and Sunday 6 February respectively.

As well as the automatic qualification spots that are available, the sixth- and seventh-placed teams will earn berths in the inter-confederation play-off tournament scheduled to take place in early 2023.

Following the outcome of the quarter-final match involving Australia, the schedule for any additional play-off matches to determine the remaining tournament standings at the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will be confirmed by the AFC. The top five finishers at the Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will qualify directly for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. If Australia finish among the top five, the sixth-placed AFC team will also advance to the Women’s World Cup.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and will take place from 20 July to 20 August 2023. For the latest news and updates on the tournament, please click HERE.

For information about FIFA’s women’s football development programmes, please click HERE.