The2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualification was a women's under-20football competition that determined the participating teams in the2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup final tournament.
A total of 12 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, with the host country qualifying automatically. The qualifying round was held between 6 and 10 August 2025.[1][2]
Of the 47AFC member associations, a total of 33 teams entered the competition. Unlike the previous edition, there was no automatic qualification for the final tournament by their position from the last tournament; all teams excluding the host participated in qualification. The 33 teams were divided into eight groups, seven groups of four teams and one group of five. The teams were seeded based on a points system derived from their final rankings across the previous three editions of the Finals.[3]
Thailand automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts.
Teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 7.2):[4]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If two or more teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they meet in the last round of the group;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);