The national teams of Myanmar, Bahrain and Bangladesh were drawn as opponents of the Turkmen football players following the draw held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for the qualifying tournament of the 21st Asian Cup among women's teams, the final part of which will be held in 2026 in Australia.
Before the draw, 34 teams were seeded into five baskets according to the ranking. Turkmenistan (141st place in the ranking), along with Singapore (139), Pakistan (157), Sri Lanka (158), East Timor (159), Maldives (163) and Saudi Arabia (166), was placed in the fourth basket. The teams that got into it were divided into 8 qualifying groups. Turkmenistan and its opponents ended up in Group «C», the matches in which will be held in Myanmar.
The remaining teams are:
Group «A»: Iran, Jordan (home team), Lebanon, Singapore, Bhutan;
Group «B»: Thailand (home team), India, Mongolia, East Timor, Iraq;
Group «D»: Chinese Taipei, Indonesia (home team), Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan;
Group «E»: Vietnam (home team), Guam, United Arab Emirates, Maldives;
Group «F»: Uzbekistan (home team), Nepal, Laos, Sri Lanka;
Group «G»: Philippines, Hong Kong, Cambodia (home team), Saudi Arabia;
Group «H»: DPRK, Malaysia, Palestine, Tajikistan (home team).
The qualifying tournament will feature three former champions – North Korea, Chinese Taipei and Thailand – while 18 teams – Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Iraq, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan and the UAE – will be looking to reach the 2026 finals for the first time.
The qualifying matches in all groups will be held from 23rd of June to 5th of July 2025 in a centralised format. It will be announced at a later date who will coach the Turkmenistan women's football team for the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The winners of the eight groups will advance to the next round, joining hosts Australia and the top three teams from the previous 2022 Women's Asian Cup in India – reigning champions China, runners-up Korea Republic and bronze medallists Japan – in the final stage of the competition.
In this way, the final tournament will bring together the 12 best teams. It will be held from the 1st to 21st of March, 2026 in three Australian cities - Sydney, Perth and Gold Coast at the stadiums that were used to host the 2023 Women's World Cup matches in Australia and New Zealand.
