Chinese Taipei beat India 3-1 on Tuesday to seal second place and with it a 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup quarterfinal berth against China. The result also meant that India, with zero points in three games, finished fourth and were knocked out of the tournament.
Needing a win to stand a chance of qualifying after their 1-2 loss to Vietnam and 0-11 drubbing at the hands of Japan, India started the stronger of the two sides and went close with Martina Thokchom hitting the post with a header and Soumya Gugoloth flashing one wide after excellent hold up play from Manisha Kalyan. At the other end, though, a defensive lapse allowed Chinese Taipei to take the lead in the 12th minute. Sanju Yadav mishit a backpass to her keeper Panthoi Chanu so badly that Chen Ji-wen was able to run onto it and tee up Su Yu-hsuan for a tap-in.
India kept coming at the wobbly Chinese Taipei defence, though, and a stunning freekick from Manisha (the ball clanging off the underside of the crossbar and bouncing just inside) levelled things up in the 39th. India looked good to take this 1-1 into halftime, but deep into stoppage time a corner was handled in the box by Pyari Xaxa. Hsu Yi-yun stepped up to the take the penalty when another piece of misfortune struck India -- her penalty cannoned off the inside of the post, onto the arm of the prone Panthoi and rolled back into goal.
India then came out firing on all cylinders in the second, the play flowing through Manisha -- who had the freedom to glide all over the park and did so with impunity -- but it was Chinese Taipei who struck a telling blow when Chen Yu-chin ran onto a wonderfully curved through ball from Wu Kai-ching, rounded Panthoi and slotted it home into an unguarded net. In the process of trying to defend it, meanwhile, India captain Sweety Devi clattered into Panthoi - and the two stalwarts of the Indian defensive unit had to be subbed off.
India came close to cutting down the lead through another Manisha Kalyan special (from a narrow angle freekick) and a Pyari Xaxa header that hit the outside of the post, but the margin was too much for the Indians to close down.
In the other game in the group, Japan beat Vietnam 4-0 to make it three wins in three for the tournament favourites.
You can relive all the action from the India - Chinese Taipei game right here on our live blog: