India Thrash Iraq 5-0, Inch Closer To Women's Asian Cup Qualification
The Indian women's football team delivered another commanding performance in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, defeating Iraq 5-0 at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium on Wednesday.
First-half goals from Sangita Basfore and Manisha set the tone before a dominant second half saw Karthika Angamuthu, Phanjoubam Nirmala Devi, and Nongmaithem Ratanbala Devi add to the scoreline, taking India's goal tally to an impressive 22 from three games, all without conceding a single goal.
With this result, the Blue Tigresses remain unbeaten, having now claimed three wins in as many matches.
India currently tops Group B with nine points and a goal difference of +22. With Thailand, currently second in the group, set to face Mongolia later in the day, the stage is perfectly set for a high-stakes showdown between India and Thailand on July 5. With only the group winner progressing, it will be a winner-takes-all affair.
On Wednesday, India, coming off emphatic wins against Mongolia (13-0) and Timor-Leste (4-0), were high on confidence and wasted no time in asserting their authority. Crispin Chettri's side played with fluency and control, showcasing impressive cohesion across all areas of the pitch.
From the opening whistle, India seized control of possession and used the full width of the pitch to stretch the Iraqi defence. Their midfielders dictated the tempo with intelligent passing and quick transitions.
India almost took the lead in the ninth minute through a corner, which was flicked goalward but superbly saved by Iraq goalkeeper Khalat Alzebari. However, the pressure told just five minutes later. Sanju delivered a curling corner from the left, and Alzebari came off her line but failed to punch clear. The ball fell kindly for Sangita, who made no mistake with her header to open the scoring.
India continued to carve open opportunities. In the 35th minute, Manisha let fly from distance and saw her thunderous strike rattle the crossbar. But just before the break, the forward would not be denied. In the 44th minute, she received the ball at the top of the box, took a touch, and sent a low shot goalwards. What seemed a tame effort somehow trickled past the Iraq defence and under Alzebari, who was caught flat-footed.
Trailing 2-0 at the break, Iraq made a change between the sticks, replacing Alzebari with Faeza Mahmood. But the momentum remained firmly with India.
Barely three minutes into the second half, Karthika Angamuthu produced the moment of the match. Spotting the substitute goalkeeper off her line, she unleashed a stunning lobbed strike from over 25 yards that dipped perfectly into the net to the delight of her teammates.
India continued their relentless press, with wave after wave of attack keeping Iraq pinned back in their own half. The fourth goal arrived in the 68th minute through Nirmala Devi, who collected a pass in midfield, took a few steps forward, and fired a long-range effort into the back of the net, showcasing yet again India's comfort and confidence in shooting from distance.
The final goal of the afternoon came in the 80th minute. Substitute Ratanbala Devi made a darting run into the box and had her initial shot parried by Mahmood. But she reacted quickly, pouncing on the rebound to slot home and seal India's third straight victory of the campaign.
First Published:
July 02, 2025, 20:00 IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
ACC meet in Dhaka: BCCI to attend virtually, Asia Cup venue to be decided
Asia Cup Trophy. (PIC - X) The impasse with regards to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) seemed to have been broken as the BCCI is all set to attend the meeting in Dhaka albeit virtually after initial threat of boycotting the event to be presided by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. The deadlock regarding the venue of Asia Cup T20, which BCCI is supposed to host, will certainly come up for discussion with UAE having grounds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah emerging as a strong contender. The other country in line to host is Sri Lanka as India will not travel to Bangladesh. 'BCCI will be represented virtually by its vice-president Rajeev Shukla, who is the designated ACC board member. Since the venue with regards to Asia Cup needs to be zeroed in on, BCCI decided to attend the meeting virtually,' an ACC source told PTI. The BCCI, which has already put its Bangladesh tour in August on hold, had earlier asked the continental body to shift the venue. The Indian board is skeptical about travelling to the neighbouring nation due to political unrest and absence of a stable government. There was a possibility of BCCI, the Afghanistan Cricket Board and SLC boycotting the ACC meeting and without three permanent Test playing nations, there wouldn't have been a quorum and the meeting itself would have been deemed invalid.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Three shortlisted for Indian football team's coach role; Constantine, Jamil in the mix
The experienced Anglo-Cypriot Stephen Constantine, Stefan Tarkovic of Slovakia and home-bred Khalid Jamil were among three candidates shortlisted on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) by the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the appointment of the national men's team head coach. The technical committee, headed by former captain I.M. Vijayan, shortlisted two foreigners and one Indian for the post which was left vacant after Spaniard Manolo Marquez and the AIFF mutually agreed to part ways earlier this month following the team's downward spiral. "The technical committee zeroed in on three applicants and sent their names for consideration to the AIFF Executive Committee. The shortlisted candidates will be vetted by the AIFF Executive Committee which will take the final decision on who will be the coach," a source privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Former India international Renedy Singh's name as fourth candidate did the rounds but an AIFF source said the Manipuri, who is currently the assistant coach of Bengaluru FC, was not among those shortlisted. He was discussed for the role of assistant coach but later the TC dropped the idea as it would be prudent to take that decision in consultation with the incoming head coach. Out of the three shortlisted, Jamil appeared to be the frontrunner to get the job. The AIFF had invited applications for the top job on July 4 with July 13 as the deadline. It received 170 applications, which included big names like former Liverpool stars Robbie Fowler and Harry Kewell. Other members of the technical committee are Shabbir Ali, Victor Amalraj, Climax Lawrence, Harjinder Singh, Santosh Singh and Pinky Magar. Constantine has been in charge of the Indian team twice earlier -- from 2002 to 2005, and from 2015 to the Asian Cup in 2019. The 62-year-old has also coached East Bengal in the Indian Super League in 2022-23, and was till recently head coach of Pakistan. He has earlier worked as head coach of countries like Nepal, Malawi and Rwanda. Jamil, 48, is currently with Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC. He famously guided Aizawl FC, then an unheralded team, to I-League title in the 2016-17 season in one of India's football fairytale stories. A former India midfielder and now an AFC Pro Licensed coach, Jamil was named AIFF Coach of Year for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. He has played 40 matches for India between 1998 and 2006. He spent most of his club career with Mahindra United, Air India and Mumbai FC. He has also coached East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and NorthEast United. A former player, the 52-year-old Tarkovic was coach of Slovakia national team from 2020 to 2022. He was then Kyrgyzstan coach in 2023-2024. It is learnt that the AIFF is in favour of making the appointment quickly without interviewing the shortlisted candidates as there is a FIFA international match window in September and India play their AFC Asian Cup qualifying round games on October 9 and 14— against Singapore home and away.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
FIDE Women's World Cup: Divya Deshmukh storms into finals
International Master Divya Deshmukh stormed into the final, defeating former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the second game of the semifinals and winning the mini-match 1.5-0.5 in the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup here on Wednesday (July 23, 2025). In the process, Divya became the first Indian to make it to the Candidates' tournament. The stakes are high here as the final berth also ensured her entry in the women's Candidates' tournament next year that will decide the challenger to Wenjun Ju, the reigning women's world champion. Having already eliminated second seed Zoner Jhu of China and then compatriot Grandmaster D Harika in the quarterfinals, Divya continued to be the giant slayer of the event and her game against Tan was a testament to her growing chess skills. With the Indian boys making a great headway at the top of the chess world, it was already time for the girls to have a say and Divya is the new girl on the block after R Vaishali. It was tricks and strategy at display by Divya as she converted to an Alapin Sicilian as white and her time exchange of Bishops for knights guaranteed a pawn plus endgame. Tan had her chances in the middle game but the former women's world champion did not make use of them and at some point simply missed the thread of the position. As the endgame arrived, Divya had a couple of extra pawns to coast but Tan remained resourceful right till the end of the game. Divya had an outside passed pawn after the dust subsided and it should have been an easy picking, but the fortunes fluctuated a lot. For the record, the game lasted 101 moves. In the second semifinal, Koneru Humpy drew with top seed Tingjie Lei of China. Playing white, Humpy faced the Slav defense and went for the iconic exchange variation that normally yields to either equal or giving white the better prospect. The opening yielded nothing special for Humpy but she got the Bishop pair against two knights to prepare for an advantage. The Queens were traded as early as on 19th move and the payers eventually reached a rook and pawn endgame wherein the Indian enjoyed an extra pawn. However, with the extra pawn not so relevant, Lei stayed in the loop as the position was not changing much. The draw was a just result when Humpy had just one extra pawn remaining in the rook and pawns endgame and the point was split after 75 moves. Humpy will now play the tie-breaker against Lei in shorter format.
