March 20 – North Korea and the Philippines have sealed their places at the Brazil 2027 Women’s World Cup, winning their play-in matches at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
They qualified for the 2027 play-in round as losing quarter finalists at the Asian Cup and join the winning quarter finalists China, South Korea, Australia and Japan, as the AFC’s representatives in next summer’s action.
Australia and Japan meet at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday in the final of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
For North Korea, holders of the U17 and U20 World Cup titles, it is a return for their senior team to the finals having last qualified in 2007. It will be their fifth appearance at the finals and was achieved after a dominant 4-0 win over Chinese Taipei in their play-off at the Gold Coast Stadium.
Striker Hong Song Ok stole the show with a hat-trick, while Kim Kyong-Yong added a fourth to put the game beyond doubt. They will hope to bring their quality to Brazil next summer after a difficult Asian Cup draw saw them matched against hosts Australia – where they ultimately bowed out 2-1 in the Quarter Finals despite impressing in the group stages.
The Philippines, meanwhile, are heading to a second consecutive World Cup after a composed 2-0 victory against Uzbekistan. Second-half goals from Angela Beard and Jaclyn Sawicki settled the tie, continuing the country’s upward trajectory in the women’s game.
The 2027 World Cup, scheduled to run from June 24 to July 25 next year, will be staged across eight venues in Brazil – all previously used during the men’s 2014 World Cup. It will also be the last tournament to feature 32 teams, with expansion to 48 teams planned for 2031.
Brazil have already qualified automatically as hosts, and aside from the Asian contingent, no other confederation has yet finalised its line-up.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]
