The 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-20 Women's Championship and AFC U-19 Women's Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the women's under-20 national teams of Asia.

The tournament was held in Thailand from 1 to 18 April 2026. For the first time, the tournament was contested by twelve teams and there will be no third place playoff. The top four teams of the tournament would qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland as the AFC representatives. North Korea were the defending champions, having won their second title in 2024. They were beaten in the final by Japan for their record-extending seventh title.

Qualification

The host country qualified automatically. Eleven teams were decided by a single round of qualifying taking place between 2–10 August 2025.

Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Team Qualified as Date of qualification Previous Hosts (2004) (2007, 2024) (2004) (2006, 2024) Quarter-finalists (2004) (2006) (2002, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019) (2002, 2004, 2015, 2017, 2024) (2004, 2013) (2006) Debut (2002)

Draw The draw was held on 10 November 2025 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to a points system derived from their final rankings across the previous three editions, with the hosts Thailand automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw. Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4

Venues The competition was played in three venues across two provinces. Pathum Thani Nonthaburi Thammasat Stadium Pathum Thani Stadium Nonthaburi Province Stadium Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 15,114 Capacity: 10,000

Squads

Players born between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2010 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team has to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, at least three of whom must be goalkeepers (regulation articles 21.2 and 26.3).

Match officials The following match officials were appointed for the tournament.

Referees

Mu Mingxin Yang Shu-ting Ranjita Devi Tekcham Azusa Sugino Cha Min-ji Esra'a Al-Mbaidin Keomany Phengmeuangkhoun Nurul Ain Izatty Zainal Khin Nyein Chan Pak Un Jong Alissar Baddour Rawdha Al-Mansoori Gulshoda Saidqulova Bùi Thị Thu Trang

Assistant referees

Tshering Choden Wen Lili Wu Qiaoli Saki Nakamoto Miu Sone Islam Al-Abadi Munirah Ha Ali Battsetseg Unurjargal May Thet Phyu Merlo Albano Yoon Eun-hee Malika Hathlahawatta Muhandiramalage Suwida Wongkraisorn Dilshoda Rahmanova Nguyen Thi Hang Nga

Group stage The top two teams of each group and the two best third-placed teams qualified for the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 9.3): Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Drawing of lots.

All times are local, ICT (UTC+7).

Group A

Group B

Group C

Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout stage In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. Bracket

Quarter-finals The winners qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Semi-finals

Final

Goalscorers

Qualified teams for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The following four teams from AFC qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland. Team Qualified onPrevious appearances in 8 (2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024) 6 (2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018) 12 April 2026 8 (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2024) 7 (2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2022, 2024) 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

See also 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup

References

External links AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup