AFC announces important news about the Vietnamese football champion in the Asian Cup

As per the latest update from the AFC, the Ho Chi Minh City women's team is set to be in the second seed category together with Nasaf FC (Uzbekistan), Suwon FC (South Korea), and Stallion Laguna (Philippines).

After the group stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League (AWCL) 2025/26 concluded on November 23, 2025, the Vietnamese representative was Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Club, which impressively secured second place in Group A, thus entering the top 8 strongest teams in Asia. During the group stage, Huynh Nhu and her teammates achieved two victories (1-0 against Stallion Laguna; 2-0 against Lion City Sailors) but lost 0-3 to Melbourne City.

According to the AFC, with this performance, Ho Chi Minh City Club will be in the second seed group for the draw, along with Nasaf FC (Uzbekistan), Suwon FC (South Korea), and Stallion Laguna (Philippines).

Meanwhile, the first seed group includes Melbourne FC (Australia), Wuhan Jiangda (China), Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Japan), and Naegohyang FC (North Korea).

In the previous continental season when the AWCL was held for the first time, Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Club also advanced past the group stage as the second place, but at that time they were in the first seed group. This change is due to the tiebreaker among the second-placed teams. In the inaugural season, Ho Chi Minh City had a better goal difference, whereas in the 2025/26 AFC Women’s Champions League, the Vietnamese team’s goal difference was lower than Naegohyang FC (North Korea) — the second place in Group C — so they were placed in a lower seed group.

The draw for the quarterfinals of the 2025/26 AFC Women’s Champions League is expected to take place on January 15, 2026. The quarterfinal matches will be held on March 28 and 29, 2026, at the home stadiums of the first seed teams.

Last season, the Ho Chi Minh City women’s team made a strong impression by reaching the semifinals. There, Coach Doan Thi Kim Chi’s squad was defeated 0-2 by the defending champions Wuhan Jiangda.