Japan, China, Korea Republic and the Philippines are all in contention for Asia’s top women’s football prize. With the match-ups in this Women’s Asian Cup semi-finals, at least one new Asian team will make an inaugural appearance in the final.
AFC Women’s Asian Cup Semi-Finals
- Japan, China, Korea Republic and the Philippines have reached the semi-finals.
- All four teams have automatically qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the process.
- Thailand, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei are playing the Women’s Asian Cup play-offs, to determine who the last Asian automatic World Cup qualifiers will be.
More AFC Women’s Asian Cup news can be found on The Women’s Game.
The first of the two match-ups today will be between Korea Republic and the Philippines, being held at 7PM AEDT. While Korea Republic have made it to this level of the competition four times prior, losing on all occasions, this is a first semi-finals appearance for the Philippines.
Both teams, like the other two semi-finalists, have automatically qualified for the 2023 FIFA World Cup by making it this far in the competition. With that pressure off their shoulders, both Korea and the Malditas can completely focus on continuing to make history.
The road to the semis was not easy for South Korea. They were able to draw title holders Japan during the group stage and followed this up by beating last tournament’s finalists Australia in the Quarter-Finals.
The Philippines for their part were beat by the Matildas in the group stage, but have won all their other matches including their first knock-out game which was ultimately decided by penalties. With both teams riding this upward trend, this first semi-finals should be a good contest.
The second match will be between Japan and China at 1AM AEDT. Both teams have won the Women’s Asian Cup in the past. Japan entered the competition as back-to-back champions while China hold the record of wins, eight total.
No team has ever won three consecutive titles in this competition. The Steel Roses will be wanting to deny the Nadeshiko this record. However, it will not be easy. Japan has won the four previous games against China, with the Chinese having to go back to 2008 for their last win in this match-up.
Both teams topped their respective groups and remain undefeated in this competition. While both countries’ head coaches have stated that beating their opponents would not be easy, both are also confident in their plan to tackle their semi-final adversary. Only one will turn out to be correct.
The winners of both semi-finals will meet in the final on Sunday, February 6 at 10PM AEDT.
Elsewhere in the Asian competition, the three game round-robin play-offs for fifth place has commenced between Thailand, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.
Vietnam beat Thailand by a scoreline of 2-0 yesterday. Chinese Taipei next take on the Thais tomorrow at 7PM AEDT. Vietnam will then take on Chinese Taipei on Sunday, February 6, 2020.
The winner of that three-way round-robin will qualify automatically for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The two other teams will still have a chance to qualify through an inter-continental playoff.
Australian Broadcasting Schedule
| Match | Date | Time (AEDT) | Countries | Broadcast |
| SF2 | 3 Feb | 1900 | Korea Republic vs. Philippines | 10Play |
| SF1 | 4 Feb | 0100 | China vs. Japan | 10Play |
| Play Off 2 | 4 Feb | 1900 | Chinese Taipei vs. Thailand | 10Play |
| Play Off 3 | 6 Feb | 1900 | Vietnam vs. Chinese Taipei | 10Play |
| Final | 6 Feb | 2200 | TBC | 10Play |
Further AFC news can be found on their website.
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