AFC Women's Champions League 2024/25

The Iranian side's triumph was sealed in dramatic fashion with Zahra Ghanbari scoring the winner in the second minute of added time.

An own goal from Chuong Thi Kieu in the first half and a Fuka Tsunoda strike six minutes into the second half paved the way for Urawa to achieve their third straight victory to finish top of the group.

Having already taken the team all the way in the AFC Women’s Club Championship™ 2023 title, Kusunose is targeting a successful run in this inaugural competition.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to take place on March 22 and 23, 2025 with the four pairings determined by a knockout stage draw while the single leg semi-finals and final will be played in a centralised format from May 21 to 23, 2025.

The win secured the Iranian side second spot behind Melbourne City FC of Australia.

With three wins out of three with 21 goals scored and none conceded, Urawa marched into the knockout stage in ominous form while this was Ho Chi Minh City’s only blip as they finished second on six points.

Shogo Taniguchi’s own goal in the 58th minute had given the Australians an unlikely lead and it took an error at the other end from Cameron Burgess 14 minutes from time to secure a point for Hajime Moriyasu’s side.

The draw moves the Japanese onto 10 points from four games and breaks their remarkable run of consecutive wins in qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, with Taniguchi’s goal the first Moriyasu’s side have conceded since the start of the preliminaries.

Australia move onto five points from four games, with four of those claimed since Popovic replaced Graham Arnold as head coach late last month.