Taiwan on Saturday qualified for next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia after defeating Group D hosts Indonesia 2-1 in Tangerang.
Taiwan scored on a long-range strike from substitute Liu Yu-chiao in the 75th minute to break a 1-1 tie and clinch a spot in the competition.
Only the winners of Group D, which also included Indonesia, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, could qualify. After Pakistan defeated Kyrgyzstan earlier on Saturday, Taiwan were virtually guaranteed to top the group after an 8-0 win over Pakistan and 3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in their previous two outings.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
A loss to Indonesia would have meant Taiwan finished in a three-way tie with the hosts and Pakistan with 2-1 records, but the goal difference would have carried them through to the finals unless they lost by a huge margin.
Taiwan qualified for the quadrennial Women's Asian Cup for the second year in a row, and next year is set to be their 16th appearance in the tournament. They won the competition in 1977, 1979 and 1981, and finished runners-up in 1989 and 1999.
The last time Taiwan made it as far as the semi-finals was in 1999 in the Philippines. At the last Women's Asian Cup in India in 2022, Taiwan made it to the quarter-finals, but were taken out by the Philippines in a penalty shoot-out.
Eleven teams have qualified for next year's competition, including hosts Australia and defending champions China. Bangladesh, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Philippines, Uzbekistan and Vietnam have also qualified.
Only one spot remains open for the winners of Group A, which consists of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Singapore and Bhutan. They begin play today.
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