The 20th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup is all set to kick off on January 20 in India with China taking on Chinese Taipei in the opening game.
12 teams including the hosts will take part in the Asian Cup. Japan are the defending champions.
However, preparations haven't been ideal in the last couple of years for the teams after the pandemic distupted the footballing calendars.
Out of the 12 participating teams, eight managed to conduct their local leagues in the recent past. Only India, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia were unable to conduct their respective domestic leagues due to the ongoing pandemic.
In the 2020/21 season, almost every country had to either cut short their leagues or change the format in order to reduce the number of matches. This was done as most tournaments had to be conducted in a centralised venue or held within a short span of time. But in 2021/22, the situation went back to normalcy in most countries.
The longest league, in terms of number of matches, was Japan's WE League where 110 matches were played. In South Korea's WK League, 84 matches are played. Compared to these, only 33 matches were played in India's premier domestic competition - IWL.
Here, we take a look at the Asian Cup participants and how their domestic league was conducted in the last two years.
Group A
Team | League | No. of matches (2020 + 2021) |
|---|---|---|
China | Chinese Women's Super League 2020 (September to October), Chinese Women's Super League 2021 (April to October) | 76 (21+55) |
Chinese Taipei | Taiwan Mulan League 2020 (April to November), Taiwan Mulan League 2021 (April to December) | 90 (45+45) |
Iran | Kowsar League 2020/21 (November 2020 - March 2021), Kowsar League 2021/22 (Started in November) | 144 (72+72) |
India | IWL | Last league in 2019/20 |
Group B
Team | League | No. of matches (2020 + 2021) |
|---|---|---|
Australia | 2020–21 W-League (Dec 2020 to April 2021), 2021–22 W-League (Started December) | 112 (56+56) |
Thailand | 2020–21 Thai Women's League (October to December), 2021–22 Thai Women's League (October to December) | 56, 2021/22 season will start in 2022. |
Philippines | PFF Women’s League | Last league in 2019 |
Indonesia | Liga 1 Putri | Last league in 2019 |
Group C
Team | League | No. of matches (2020 + 2021) |
|---|---|---|
Japan | Nadeshiko League 2020 (July to Nov), 2021/22 WE League (12 September 2021 – 21 May 2022) | 200 (90+110) |
South Korea | WK League 2020 (June to November 2020), WK League 2021 (April to November 2021) | 168 (84+84) |
Vietnam | 2020 Vietnamese Women's Football Championship (September to December), 2021 (Started in November) | 80 (40+40) |
Myanmar | Myanmar Women's League | Last league in 2018/19 |