NAGOYA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- China cruised into the quarterfinals of the women's football tournament at the 2026 Asian Games with a 5-1 victory over the Philippines on Monday.
A hat-trick from Wang Yanwen, along with strikes from Chen Qiaozhu and Yuan Cong, helped China finish top of Group G with two wins and one draw. China will face Vietnam in the quarterfinals.
China opened its group campaign with a 5-1 win over Hong Kong, China, before drawing 1-1 with Uzbekistan.
Against the Philippines, China took control from the outset and launched wave after wave of attacks.
China suffered an injury setback in the 19th minute when forward Zhang Linyan was forced off. Just a minute later, Zhang Rui delivered a precise diagonal cross from the right, and Wang headed the ball home to open the scoring.
Wang doubled the lead in the 40th minute with a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area after China's high press paid off.
Four minutes after the restart, Wang Shuang set up Chen Qiaozhu, who surged into the penalty area and poked the ball home to make it 3-0, before Wang Yanwen completed her hat-trick with another header five minutes later.
With a commanding lead, China eased off defensively. In the 65th minute, a Philippines corner exposed a communication error in China's defence, allowing the ball to fall to the far post, where Skye Leach tapped into an empty net.
In stoppage time, Zhang Chengxue's shot struck the post before Yuan Cong followed up at the far post to round off the scoring.
Also in Group G, Uzbekistan beat Hong Kong, China 2-1 to finish second with one win and two draws. The Philippines finished third with one win, one draw and one loss, while Hong Kong, China ended the group stage with three defeats.
Elsewhere, Japan thrashed Chinese Taipei 4-0 in Group E, while Vietnam drew 0-0 with Thailand. Japan finished top with three wins, while Chinese Taipei ranked second with two wins and one loss. Vietnam and Thailand both collected one point, with Vietnam finishing third on goal difference.
In Group F, DPR Korea drew 1-1 with South Korea, while Bangladesh drew 0-0 with Myanmar. DPR Korea and South Korea both finished with seven points, with DPR Korea taking top spot on goal difference. Myanmar and Bangladesh each collected one point, but both had an inferior goal difference to Vietnam, the third-placed team in Group E.
According to the competition regulations, the top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
China, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, DPR Korea and South Korea secured the eight quarterfinal berths.
The quarterfinals will be played on Friday, with China facing Vietnam, DPR Korea taking on Chinese Taipei, South Korea meeting Uzbekistan and Japan playing the Philippines. ■
