The 2026 Women's Asian Cup is on fire. On March 3, the defending champion Chinese women's football team will make its debut against the average Bangladeshi women's football team. It must be noted that in the context of the rapid development trend of women's football in the world and the rapid improvement of the level of Asian women's football, the Chinese women's football team has exposed many shortcomings in this cycle, such as the inability to replace the old with the new, the strength not rising but falling, and being out of touch with the world trend. It is not easy for the Sonorous Roses to reach the semi-finals and directly obtain tickets to the Women's World Cup.
The fortune is good, the opponent's strength is from weak to strong
More than 20 years ago, during the heyday of the Chinese women's football team, winning the Asian Cup was almost easy. The "Second Chinese Women's Football Team" dispatched by the Chinese Football Association could basically win the championship easily. With the rapid popularity and rapid development of women's football in the world, the advantages accumulated by the Chinese women's football team in the past by relying on the professional system have been gradually smoothed out. High-level football countries have promoted the development of women's football through professional clubs and relied on universities to increase the popularity rate, achieving "overtaking around the corner."
The first opponent of the Chinese women's football team is the Bangladesh women's football team.
At present, the Chinese women's football team is in the second-tier and lower reaches in the world, and is positioned as the first-tier and lower reaches in Asia. Four years ago, Shui Qingxia led the team to win the championship due to the right time, place and people. Four years later, the team's strength has not improved qualitatively. Fortunately, the Chinese women's football team has good luck in the Australian Women's Asian Cup. The order of the games is easy first and then difficult: they face Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and North Korea women's football team in succession. The schedule is perfect.
It is the first time for the Bangladesh women's football team to participate in the Women's Asian Cup, and the head coach Peter Butler is British. He said that the team had rewritten history by qualifying for the Asian Cup for the first time, and hoped that by participating in this tournament, it would lay the foundation for the future development of the country's women's football team. "Whether we win, lose or draw, we will play our own style and will not 'set the bus'. I respect my opponent very much. Tomorrow will be a difficult game."
On March 2, 2026, Chinese women's football head coach Ante Milicic (second from left) and Chinese team captain Wu Haiyan (second from right) at a press conference. On March 2, local time, the Chinese team held a pre-match press conference for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup at the Western Sydney Stadium in Australia. On March 3, the Chinese team will play the first match of the group against the Bangladesh team. Published by Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Hu Jingchen)
At a press conference on the 2nd, Chinese women's football coach Milicic said frankly that as the head coach of the defending champion, there is definitely pressure, but the key is to focus on the team itself and play every game well. He said he was satisfied with the preliminary preparation work. The opponents have distinctive characteristics, are young and energetic.
"But at the same time, like always, we have to focus on ourselves," the Australian coach said. "Hopefully we can achieve what we have been working hard to achieve in training and have a positive performance tomorrow and bring a positive result."
Aim for the top four and strive to get direct qualification
This Asian Cup is directly related to the Asian quota for the 2027 Brazil World Cup. The top four will have direct access to the World Cup. The losing teams in the top eight will compete for the other two direct quotas through the play-offs. The remaining teams will need to play in the intercontinental play-offs. As the defending champion in 2022 and the nine-time champion in the history of the event, the Chinese women's football team must not only maintain its glory, but also ensure its qualification for the World Cup. No mistakes can be made in every step. Head coach Milicic made it clear that his goal is to reach the finals, and the team needs to prove its resilience in tough battles.
The Chinese women's football team was the champion of the last tournament, but the competition in this tournament is more intense and it is more difficult to defend the title.
As the backbone of the defense, Wu Haiyan served as the captain of the Chinese women's football team as early as the 2015 World Cup. Nearly 11 years have passed and the 33-year-old still wears the captain's armband. She has transformed from a young right back with strong running ability to an experienced central defender today.
"For me, always keeping the game fresh comes from my love for football. I also cherish every opportunity to represent the national team." She said, "I hope to use my actions to inspire more people who like football, and hope that more girls can participate in this sport. This is what I have always wanted to do."
The 2026 Women's Asian Cup will be held in Australia.
Four years ago, Shui Qingxia led the Chinese women's football team to a magical victory in the Asian Cup of the Indian Women's Football Team. Against the backdrop of the Chinese men's football team losing to Vietnam on the second day of the Lunar New Year, it greatly boosted the morale of the fans. The women's football team won the championship and the players' attention soared. The value of players and coaches increased overall. However, the Chinese women's football team subsequently missed the Asian Games championship, qualified for the World Cup group, and failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shui Qingxia resigned.
Compared with four years ago, this Chinese women's football team is still dominated by veterans, with 10 players participating in the last Asian Cup, namely: Zhu Yu, Zhang Rui, Zhang Xin, Wang Shuang, Yao Wei, Wu Chengshu, Tang Jiali, Zhang Linyan, Wang Yanwen and Li Mengwen.
Facing difficulties head-on, fighting back against doubts about competition results
It must be admitted that Milicic, the Australian coach of the Chinese women's football team, needs to prove himself in continental competitions such as the Asian Cup. In the previous warm-up match, the Chinese women's football team he coached lost to the England team 0-8, creating the humiliation of the largest loss in the team's history, and was even on the verge of dismissal. In the end, the contract was abandoned because the contract signed by the Chinese Football Association and him did not have relevant performance termination clauses and the relevant parties were unwilling to pay high liquidated damages.
On March 2, 2026, Chinese women’s football head coach Ante Milicic gave a press conference. On March 2, local time, the Chinese team held a pre-match press conference for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup at the Western Sydney Stadium in Australia. On March 3, the Chinese team will play the first match of the group against the Bangladesh team. Published by Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Hu Jingchen)
While Milicic remained in office, the Chinese Football Association added Wang Hongliang, Ou Chuliang and other Chinese coaches to enrich the coaching staff, which was understood by the outside world as a check and balance on Milicic. The controversy over Milicic's coaching of the Chinese women's football team focuses on many aspects such as tactics that are out of touch with players' abilities, swings in personnel and stagnation in the replacement of new and old players, rigid on-the-spot command, team management violations, and questionable logic in coaching selection and retention. However, these problems mainly arise in some warm-up matches.
There is a famous saying in the football circle: you need to win the games you must win – compared with insignificant warm-up matches and friendly matches, the "Steel Rose" and the coaching staff need to prove themselves in official competitions such as the Women's Asian Cup.
Milicic's tactical concepts are relatively advanced. He advocates emulating the high-pressing tactics of his mentor Postkoglu. However, the Chinese women's football team's techniques and tactics have long been out of touch with the latest trends in the world. Technology, physical fitness, and confrontation are not enough to quickly support the high-pressing tactical system.
The Chinese women’s football team has certain experience advantages.
Especially when facing the world's top team, the England Women's Football Team, the Chinese team's tactical arrangements were too open, and their offensive methods amplified their own weaknesses. The team's ball possession rate was only 30%, and the offense was almost paralyzed. Fortunately, problems exposed in warm-up matches are sometimes a good thing, and can be gradually solved through daily training. Now in intercontinental competitions such as the Women's Asian Cup, the strength of Asian opponents is not too strong to withstand. As long as the coaching staff directs carefully, the Chinese women's football team can still win in the top four.
However, Milicic's trip to the Asian Cup is regarded as a controversial life-and-death test: if the results meet the standards, such as entering the semi-finals and qualifying for the World Cup, the controversy may be temporarily subsided; if there is another defeat, dismissal is almost inevitable.
