India's women's football team heads to Thailand for AFC Qualifiers

Having lost three forwards to injuries, the Indian senior women's team head coach, Crispin Chettri, on Monday named a 24-member travelling squad to Thailand for the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers.

The final squad of 23 players for the Qualifiers will be announced before the first match. The Blue Tigresses are placed in Group B of the Qualifiers, where they will face Mongolia (June 23), Timor Leste (June 29), Iraq (July 2) and hosts Thailand (July 5).

The group winners will qualify for the final tournament in Australia in March 2026. The Women's Asian Cup also serves as a qualifier for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027.

Chettri and his squad will arrive in Thailand on Monday evening, and will train for a week in the northern city of Chiang Mai before their first game. All matches will take place at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium.

The Blue Tigresses camped at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru for six weeks, and as part of their preparations for the Qualifiers, played two friendlies against Uzbekistan on May 30 and June 3, losing 0-1 on both occasions.

"I was happy with the preparations in Bengaluru," said Chettri.

"We trained for more than 40 days. The training ground and all the facilities were excellent. As far as the squad is concerned, we have a good mixture of young and senior players.

"Unfortunately, we had to let go of forwards like Karishma (Shirvoikar), Sandhiya (Ranganathan) and Renu due to injuries. But that's part and parcel of football. And as compared to the Pink Ladies Cup squad (in February), we have more experienced players with us now." The Indian coach tried various combinations during the two preparatory friendlies against Uzbekistan, rotating as many as eight players for the second game and handing out a total of five debuts.

"We had a clear plan for those two friendlies. We were trying to find the right combination for the qualifiers because we have to play almost four games in 13 days. Rotating players and giving them proper recovery time is important.

"We created many more chances in the second game as compared to the first, but the conversion was the problem, and that's what we'll work on in the coming days," said Chettri.

To adjust to the more humid weather of Chiang Mai, the Blue Tigresses will arrive in the city a week before the first match against Mongolia. They will also have a five-day gap before taking on Timor Leste in the second game.

"I'm pleased with the federation for sending us early to Thailand. There is ample time for acclimatisation and recovery.

In Bengaluru, the weather has been very pleasant. But Chiang Mai is quite hot and humid at this time of the year. So, this week will help us a lot in our preparation," Chettri added.

India's 24-member travelling squad: Goalkeepers: Elangbam Panthoi Chanu, Moirangthem Monalisha Devi, Payal Basude.

Defenders: Hemam Shilky Devi, Kiran Pisda, Martina Thokchom, Ngangbam Sweety Devi, Phanjoubam Nirmala Devi, Purnima Kumari, Sanju, Sorokhaibam Ranjana Chanu.

Midfielders: Anju Tamang, Grace Dangmei, Karthika Angamuthu, Nongmaithem Ratanbala Devi, Priyadharshini Selladurai, Sangita Basfore.

Forwards: Lynda Kom Serto, Malavika P, Manisha Kalyan, Manisha Naik, Pyari Xaxa, Rimpa Haldar, Soumya Guguloth.