KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- China has been drawn in Group B alongside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), South Korea and the Philippines in the Asian qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic women's football tournament, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Thursday.
Under the new format, the top eight teams from the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup will compete in the Olympic qualifiers from April 19 to Dec. 4, 2027. The teams were seeded into four pots based on the FIFA rankings released in October.
The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four, with each group playing a home-and-away round-robin competition over six matchdays. The winner of each group will qualify directly for the 2028 Olympic Games. Group A features Japan, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.
With the women's Olympic football tournament expanding from 12 to 16 teams, the two group runners-up will meet in a two-legged playoff on Feb. 28 and March 4, 2028. The winner will advance to an intercontinental playoff against Argentina, which finished third at the 2025 Copa America Femenina. ■
