Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan): The Indian U17 women’s team is a step away, or to be precise, a point away, from scripting history by becoming the first-ever batch to earn a place in the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup on merit.
India women will face Uzbekistan in the last qualifying encounter in Group G at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek on Friday, knowing that avoiding defeat will book their place at the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup China 2026. The match will be streamed live on Kygyrz Sport TV YouTube Channel.
“This game is what we have been working for all these months,” said captain Julan Nongmaithem, who scored a stunning 90th-minute volley to guide India to a 2-1 win over Kyrgyz Republic in the first game on Monday.
“It was a tough start to the qualifiers against Kyrgyz Republic, but we were happy to get the win in the end finally. That gave us a good advantage heading into the last game,” Julan added.
As usual, the 14-year-old dedicated the goal to her late father, who passed away last year. “I know he’s watching from heaven,” an emotional Julan said after the game.
Kyrgyzstan bounced back and defeated Uzbekistan 2-1 in the second match on Wednesday.