Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Eleven nations now know their opponents in the first round of Asian qualifying for the FIFA Women’s Olympic Football Tournament 2016 in Brazil after Thursday's draw at AFC House.
Myanmar, India, Bahrain and Sri Lanka have been drawn into Group A, while Group B consists of Uzbekistan, Jordan, Hong Kong and Palestine.
Group C will see Chinese Taipei, Iran and Laos vying for a spot in the next qualification round.
The seeding for the draw was based on the FIFA Women’s World Rankings at the time of the draw which was carried out for nations ranked eighth through to 18th.
In Round 1, each group will play a one-round robin league at a centralised venue and the winners from each group (total three teams) will advance to Qualification Round 2.
The teams ranked sixth and seventh, Thailand and Vietnam respectively, automatically participate in Qualification Round 2 and will be joined by the three group winners from Round 1.
Teams ranked in the top five – Japan (1st), Australia (2nd), DPR Korea (3rd), China (4th) and Korea Republic (5th) – are the automatic contenders in the Qualification Final Round where they will be joined by the winner from Round 2.
The top two finishers from Qualification Final Round will fly the Asian flag at the Summer Olympics women’s football tournament.
Groups for the FIFA Women's Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 Asian Qualifiers - Round 1
Group A: Myanmar, India, Bahrain, Sri Lanka
Group B: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Hong Kong, Palestine
Group C: Chinese Taipei, Iran, Laos