# 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup

The 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament in Asia competed by the women's national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was originally scheduled to be held in Jordan between 7 and 22 April 2018, but later was changed to 6 to 20 April 2018.
The tournament served as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the top five teams qualifying for the World Cup in France.
Japan defeated Australia 1–0 in the final to win their second consecutive title. In the third-place match the same day, China PR defeated Thailand 3–1.

## Qualification

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 21 January 2017. The top three finishers of the last AFC Women's Cup qualified automatically and did not have to enter qualifying, while Jordan also qualified automatically as hosts but decided to also participate in the qualifying competition. The matches were played from 3 to 12 April 2017.

### Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking at start of event |
| Jordan | Hosts | 2nd | Group stage (2014) | 51 |
| Japan | 2014 champions | 16th | Champions (2014) | 11 |
| Australia | 2014 runners-up | 6th | Champions (2010) | 6 |
| China | 2014 third place | 14th | Champions (1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006) | 17 |
| Philippines | Group A runners-up | 9th | Group stage (1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003) | 72 |
| South Korea | Group B winners | 12th | Third place (2003) | 16 |
| Thailand | Group C winners | 16th | Champions (1983) | 30 |
| Vietnam | Group D winners | 8th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014) | 35 |
Notes:
* ↑ Since the Group A winners Jordan already automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts, Philippines also qualified for the final tournament as runners-up.

## Venues

The competition was played in two venues in the city of Amman.
| Amman | Amman International StadiumKing Abdullah II Stadium | Amman |
| Amman International Stadium | Amman International StadiumKing Abdullah II Stadium | King Abdullah II Stadium |
| Capacity: 17,619 | Amman International StadiumKing Abdullah II Stadium | Capacity: 13,000 |

## Draw

The final draw was held on 9 December 2017, 13:00 EET (UTC+2), at the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Center on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Jordan automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Jordan (hosts) Japan | Australia China | South Korea Thailand | Vietnam Philippines |

## Squads

Each team must register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 31.4 and 31.5).

## Match officials

A total of 10 referees and 12 assistant referees were appointed for the final tournament.

### Referees

* Kate Jacewicz
* Casey Reibelt
* Qin Liang
* Mahsa Ghorbani
* Yoshimi Yamashita
* Ri Hyang-ok
* Oh Hyeon-jeong
* Thein Thein Aye
* Edita Mirabidova
* Công Thị Dung

### Assistant referees

* Cui Yongmei
* Fang Yan
* Uvena Fernandes
* Ensieh Khabaz
* Maiko Hagio
* Naomi Teshirogi
* Hong Kum-nyo
* Kim Kyoung-min
* Lee Seul-gi
* Heba Saadieh
* Rohaidah Bte Mohd Nasir
* Trương Thị Lệ Trinh

## Group stage

The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the semi-finals. The third-placed team of each group entered the fifth-placed match.

### Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 11.5):
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
* Drawing of lots.
All times are local, EEST (UTC+3).

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | China | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 9 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 2 | Thailand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 6 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 3 | Philippines | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup playoff |
| 4 | Jordan (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 5 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 2 | Japan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 5 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 5 | 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup playoff |
| 4 | Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | −16 | 0 | |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head results: Australia 0–0 South Korea, South Korea 0–0 Japan, Japan 1–1 Australia. Head-to-head standings: Australia: 2 pts, 0 GD, 1 GF Japan: 2 pts, 0 GD, 1 GF South Korea: 2 pts, 0 GD, 0 GF South Korea are ranked third on head-to-head goals scored. Australia and Japan are tied on their own head-to-head result, and are ranked on total goal difference.

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 17 April – King Abdullah II | 17 April – King Abdullah II |
| China | 1 |
| China | 1 | 20 April – Amman International | 20 April – Amman International |
| Japan | 3 | 20 April – Amman International | 20 April – Amman International |
| Japan | 3 | Japan | 1 |
| 17 April – King Abdullah II | 17 April – King Abdullah II | | Japan | 1 |
| 17 April – King Abdullah II | 17 April – King Abdullah II | Australia | 0 |
| Australia (p) | 2 (3) | Australia | 0 |
| Thailand | 2 (1) | | |
| Thailand | 2 (1) | Third place match | Third place match |
| | | 20 April – Amman International | 20 April – Amman International |
| | | China | 3 |
| | | Thailand | 1 |
| Fifth place match | Fifth place match |
| 16 April – Amman International | 16 April – Amman International |
| Philippines | 0 |
| South Korea | 5 |

### Fifth place match

Winner qualified for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

### Final
## Awards

* AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 winners
* Japan Second title
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Most Valuable Player | Top Scorer | Fairplay Award |
| Mana Iwabuchi | Li Ying (7 goals) | Japan |

## Goalscorers

There were 66 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 3.88 goals per match.
7 goals
* Li Ying
4 goals
* Song Duan
* Wang Shuang
* Kumi Yokoyama
* Kanjana Sung-Ngoen
3 goals
* Sam Kerr
* Cho So-hyun
* Lee Min-a
2 goals
* Alanna Kennedy
* Mana Iwabuchi
* Rattikan Thongsombut
* Silawan Intamee
* Suchawadee Nildhamrong
1 goal
* Chloe Logarzo
* Hayley Raso
* Kyah Simon
* Emily van Egmond
* Ma Jun
* Tang Jiali
* Wang Shanshan
* Emi Nakajima
* Mizuho Sakaguchi
* Mina Tanaka
* Maysa Jbarah
* Shahnaz Jebreen
* Sarah Abu-Sabbah
* Sarina Bolden
* Jesse Shugg
* Jang Sel-gi
* Lee Geum-min
* Lim Seon-joo
* Pitsamai Sornsai
* Taneekarn Dangda
1 own goal
* Kanjanaporn Saengkoon (against Australia)
* Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung (against Australia)
2 own goals
* Yasmeen Khair (against China PR and Philippines)

### Tournament teams ranking

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | Japan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 11 | Champions |
| 2 | Australia | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 6 | Runners-up |
| 3 | China | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 5 | +14 | 12 | Third place |
| 4 | Thailand | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 7 | Fourth place |
| 5 | South Korea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 8 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 6 | Philippines | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 7 | Jordan (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 8 | Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | −16 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |

## Qualified teams for FIFA Women's World Cup

The following five teams from AFC qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup |
| China | 9 April 2018 | 6 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015) |
| Thailand | 12 April 2018 | 1 (2015) |
| Australia | 13 April 2018 | 6 (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) |
| Japan | 13 April 2018 | 7 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) |
| South Korea | 16 April 2018 | 2 (2003, 2015) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
    $^2$ Australia qualified as a member of the OFC in 1995, 1999 and 2003.

## Broadcasting rights and sponsorships

Le Sports acquired the all-media broadcasting and signal production rights in China in 2015, but they collapsed due to financial problems thus giving in all the rights they've acquired and transferred them to China Central Television and PP Sports in 2017. Tire manufacturer Continental announced they would be official sponsor.