Key Points

Nielsen’s team were drawn to face Vietnam, India and Chinese Taipei in Group C of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 at the Official Draw in Sydney on Tuesday ahead of their latest attempt to win the title for the first time since 2018.

"It was a good draw and the most important thing was that we managed to get to be in Group C because logistically it’s a bit better than Group B. We need to show why we’re the highest ranked team. I don’t want to disrespect anyone but I think we have a good chance to win the group and that gives us one of the third place teams in the quarterfinals and then we take it from there," said the Dane, who took over from Futoshi Ikeda last year.

The Japanese will play all three of their group phase matches in Perth, starting against Chinese Taipei on March 4, and will be aiming to claim top spot in the standings to set up a meeting with one of the third placed finishers in the quarter-finals as per AFC.

Victory there would see Japan qualify for a 10th consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup, securing one of the six guaranteed berths at the finals in Brazil and keeping the country on track for an attempt to reclaim the world title for the first time since 2011.

“Obviously it’s the World Cup qualifier, so the Women’s Asian Cup is extremely important. But for us as a team we need to get back to winning ways, not only in single matches but also in tournaments. Every tournament has its own life, so it’s important to understand that and prepare for that. Those are details we haven’t got around to yet, we have only played friendly matches so far.

"But we have good time to prepare, there are some more good matches coming up and I’m very happy, especially with what the administrators have done for us because they have really given us good preparation," said Nielsen.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 will be Nielsen’s first major tournament at the helm of the Nadeshiko having taken over after the Olympic Games in 2024, when the Japanese lost out in the quarter-finals to eventual gold medallists the United States.

His team are currently seventh on the FIFA Rankings, with the Dane proclaiming himself satisfied with the way in which his squad has been developing since his arrival in December. However, he stresses the time for assessments and tinkering has come to an end.

“We’ve played really strong teams and it’s very valuable to prepare for major tournaments that we have really good opposition in all the games,” he said of his team’s schedule to date.

- IANS