Summary of this article
India opened their AFC Asian Cup 2026 campaign with a loss against Vietnam
Sanfida Nongrum scored the solitary goal for India
Ngan Thi Van Su scored a brace to seal the victory for Vietnam
A gritty India conceded a goal in the injury stoppage time to go down fighting against higher-ranked Vietnam 1-2 in their Women's AFC Asian Cup opening match Perth Rectangular Stadium in Australia on Wednesday.
Debutant Sanfida Nongrum, a second half substitute, equalised in the 65th minute after Vietnam took the lead in the 30th minute through Ngan Thi Van Su.
India were agonisingly close to grab one point from the match but conceded a goal in the fourth minute of second half added time with Ngan Thi Van Su (94th) scoring her second of the match.
It was a heartbreak for the Indians under new head coach Amelia Valverde from Costa Rica as there was just three minutes left in the match after seven minutes added for injury stoppage.
Despite the loss, India, lowest ranked in Group C at 67th, will hold their heads high against the 36th-ranked Vietnam, who though dominated throughout.
Vietnam had made it to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and had reached quarterfinals in the previous edition of the Asian Cup in 2022.
Goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu was outstanding under the bar, making as many as five saves, while captain Sweety Devi Ngangbam marshalled the Indian backline with aplomb.
Forward Manisha Kalyan, who currently plies her trade in a top tier league in Peru, was a constant threat for the Vietnamese defence.
Early in the second half, Vietnam thought they had scored but the goal was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee, ruling for a handball instead on the part of an attacker during a goal mouth melee.
India were lacklustre in the first half, as they could not hold ball for a considerable period of time to construct attacking moves. They also lost possession easily.
Vietnamese midfielder Nguyen Thi Bich Thu was the main threat for India and her shot in the 14th minute struck the crossbar. Next minute, goalkeeper Panthoi was called into action as she parried a Cu Thi Huynh Nhu shot from close range. She made another save in the 17th minute.
Vietnam were, however, not to be denied in the half-hour mark as Ngan Thi Van Su sent a curling shot from the left side of the box to beat Panthoi after Nguyen Thi Bich Thu did the hard work.
A few minutes before the half time, Manisha was brought from the left flank to the centre, and India had a golden chance to score in the 41st minute.
Manisha did a great job to outwit her marker and sent a beautiful pass to Soumya Guguloth, who, however, had a heavy first touch. With the ball quite far away from Soumya, Vietnam goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh had enough time to come of her line and cleared the ball.
India dished out a much better performance in the second half with Nongrum and Rimpa Haldar coming in for Dangmei Grace and Soumya Guguloth at the re-start.
The Indians held the ball for longer periods of time and built on attacking moves more often than not, while also not giving too much space for the Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese supporters at the Perth Rectangular Stadium were stunned with Nongrum scoring the equalising goal in the 65th minute after hard work from Halder.
The Meghalaya player's left-footer got through the fingers of the Vietnamese goalkeeper to hit the nets to the joy of the small Indian supporters at the stadium.
Vietnam attacked relentlessly, searching for another goal. Panthoi made another fine save in the 76th minute to keep the scoreline 1-1.
Seven minutes were then added as injury stoppage time and India almost escaped with a draw but Vietnam scored in the 94th for a deserved win.
India came into the match without enough international game time since they have not played any international match this year.
India, though, are hoping to punch above their weight and reach the knock-out round which will allow them to take a shot at 2027 FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time.
The top two sides from each of the three groups, along with the two best third-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals. The four quarter-final winners will qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil.
The losing quarter-finalists will contest the play-offs for the two remaining direct spots allocated to the AFC for the World Cup. The two play-off losers will have another chance of qualifying for Brazil via the play-off tournament.
India face Japan on March 7 here, while their final Group C match will be against Chinese Taipei on March 10 in Sydney.
