The Lionesses will have to wait a little longer before kicking off their 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup qualifying campaign, as it has been postponed.
Originally scheduled to take place from 23 June to 5 July at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, the matches will now be pushed back by two weeks, from 7 July to 19 July, at a new venue.
The new venue?
Yet to be confirmed.
The national football body made the announcement on 19 June, citing a statement from the AFC.
The reason?
The worsening conflict between Israel and Iran, which has led to heightened security risks and logistical concerns raised by several participating teams.
Despite the late twist, the Lionesses are taking it on the chin.
Singapore, ranked 139th in the world, are in a tough group where only the top team qualifies for the main tournament in Australia.
Jordan is ranked 75th, Iran 68th, Lebanon 130th, and Bhutan 171st.
In the lead-up to the qualifiers, the Lionesses played two friendlies against Hong Kong (ranked 80th).
One was held behind closed doors, while the other was abandoned due to bad weather.
“Honestly, at first I felt disappointed because we had prepared everything and made a lot of adjustments for this tournament,” forward Farhanah Ruhaizat told the Straits Times.
“But at the same time, now that it’s been postponed, we have extra days to train and prepare even better for the tournament.”
The Lionesses have not featured in the Women’s Asian Cup since 2003 and are hungry to break that drought.
With the Southeast Asian Games and U20 qualifiers also on the calendar this year, the team has plenty to prepare for.
PHOTO: FAS