Indonesia and Myanmar suffer shocking defeat, Southeast Asian football falls out of Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers

TPO - Last night in the second round of the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers, Southeast Asian representatives received contrasting results.

Indonesia suffered a shocking defeat against Pakistan.

Only Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines won. These were easy victories against much weaker opponents. Vietnam easily crushed the UAE 6-0, Thailand scored 11 goals against Mongolia while the Philippines beat Cambodia by a score of tennis.

These victories bring the top 3 women's teams in Southeast Asia very close to the ticket to the final round. However, compared to having 5 representatives attending the 2022 Asian Cup, this time, it is very likely that Southeast Asia will only have 3.

The reason is that the two remaining hopes, Myanmar and Indonesia, suffered shocking defeats. Last night, Myanmar unexpectedly fell to Bangladesh, a team much weaker than them. Bangladesh is ranked 128th in the world while Myanmar is 55th. The South Asian team is 73 places below Myanmar but still led 2-0 until the 89th minute.

Indonesia lost to Pakistan 0-2

All Myanmar could muster was a last-minute consolation goal. The 1-2 defeat left Southeast Asia’s once-leading football nation with no hope of qualifying directly for the finals. That ticket has now officially gone to Bangladesh.

Another shameful defeat for Indonesia. They participated in the last Asian Cup but in the upcoming tournament, Indonesia will almost certainly not be able to participate after the loss to Pakistan. Indonesia is ranked 95th in the world, not a high position but they are considered superior thanks to having many naturalized players.

However, against Pakistan ranked 157, Indonesia surprisingly lost 0-2. This result made Indonesia almost hopeless when in the final match, they will meet the strongest team in the group, Chinese Taipei. Thus, compared to 5 representatives at the 2022 Asian Cup, Southeast Asian women's football is likely to have only 3 at the upcoming finals.

Dang Lai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/indonesia-va-myanmar-thua-soc-bong-da-dong-nam-a-roi-rung-tai-vong-loai-asian-cup-2026-post1756992.tpo