East Bengal will look to make history by becoming the first Indian club to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League when they begin their Group B campaign against Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. India will host the continental competition’s Group Stage for the first time, with Kolkata’s Kishore Bharati Krirangan staging all three of East Bengal’s matches. The other two opponents are South Korea’s Hwacheon KSPO WFC (November 4) and North Korea’s 4.25 SC (November 7).
East Bengal have qualified for the Group Stage for the second consecutive season after topping Group A in the Preliminary Stage in Malaysia in August. Having narrowly missed out on a knockout berth last season, East Bengal will be keen to go a step further this time. “It’s a huge opportunity for us to play the AFC Women’s Champions League on home soil. “The girls are ready to prove their mettle at this stage. We need to level up if we have to compete with these Asian powerhouses to book a berth in the knockouts,” he added. The club have retained most of their core players while strengthening the squad with several additions. Indian internationals Rimpa Haldar and Thoibisana Chanu have joined the side, along with Japanese player Hitomi Tanaka and Ghanaian trio Olivia Anokye, Adama Alhassan and Abigail Antwi. Olivia was East Bengal’s leading scorer in the AWCL Preliminary Stage with five goals. We’ve been preparing rigorously over the past two months for this competition, and we’ve played multiple friendlies against boys during this time. Sathi added that the team were determined to overcome last season’s disappointment and secure a place in the knockout stage. Kick-off: 8pm.
The ‘Moshal Girls’ defeated Bangladesh’s Rajshahi Stars 4-0, Guam’s Rovers FC 12-0 and hosts Sabah FA 2-0 to finish with a perfect record. The team, coached by Anthony Andrews, have also maintained an eight-match unbeaten run in international football, scoring 34 goals without conceding. The tournament’s 12 teams will compete for eight quarter-final places, with the three group winners, three runners-up and the two best third-placed teams advancing. The opening fixture against Vietnamese champions Ho Chi Minh City WFC will be crucial for East Bengal as they seek a positive start before facing 2025 WK League champions Hwacheon KSPO WFC and DPR Korea Women’s Premier League winners 4.25 SC. The East Bengal coach said the team had regularly played friendlies against U-15 and U-17 boys’ sides to prepare for the pace and physical intensity of continental football. East Bengal head into the competition after a successful 2025-26 season in which they became the first Indian club to win the treble in women’s football, claiming the SAFF Women’s Club Championship, Indian Women’s League and Calcutta Women’s Football League titles. They won 30 of their 35 matches last season, losing just three times, and will hope to carry that form into the continental competition. Midfielder Sathi Debnath said playing at Kishore Bharati Krirangan would be special, having won her first trophy with East Bengal at the venue in the 2022-23 Calcutta Women’s Football League. “I won my first trophy (CWFL 2022-23) with East Bengal at the Kishore Bharati, so it’s a very special stadium for me.
Andrews is aware of the quality of the opposition but said his team were prepared for the challenge. We’ll face some of the best teams in Asia, but we have prepared well and intensely for this moment,” he said on the eve of the match. “We’ve been playing friendlies against U-15 and U-17 boys regularly to push our limits and adapt to the pace and intensity of top-tier continental games,” Andrews said, urging fans to turn up at Kishore Bharati Krirangan to support the team. These games have helped us become physically and mentally stronger,” she said. “We are determined to rectify last year’s mistakes and advance to the AWCL knockouts,” she said.
The run includes their triumph in the inaugural SAFF Women’s Club Championship in Kathmandu last year.
