On 27 February, the AFC highlighted the third phase of the women's football qualifiers for the Paris Olympics on its official website. In the first leg of this stage last weekend, the Australian women's football team defeated the Uzbekistan women's football team 3-0 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and has one foot in the Paris Olympics; In the neutral stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the North Korean women's football team at the "home" drew 0-0 with the Japanese women's football team. The second leg of this round on Wednesday, the 28th of this month, will determine the two tickets for the women's main draw of the Paris Olympics.
After breaking through in the second stage of the Paris Olympic preliminaries, Australia, Uzbekistan, Japan, and North Korea advanced to the third stage of the qualifiers. According to the results of the group draw, the two teams of Australia and Ukraine, and the two teams of Japan and North Korea respectively caught each other at this stage. Affected by objective factors, the North Korean team's home match against the Japanese team was arranged in a neutral venue, and it was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In this game, both teams played out a 0-0 draw. According to the plan, the two teams will meet in the second leg at the Tokyo National Stadium in Japan on the evening of the 28th local time. The Japanese women's football team has home advantage. In the first leg of the clash between the two teams, the Japanese women's football team also had the advantage in all aspects of statistics, and the outside world seemed to be more optimistic about them advancing to the main match.
On the 24th local time, the Australian women's football team visited Tashkent to challenge the Uzbekistan women's football team. Australia, who had the upper hand, kept their opponents at bay, but it wasn't until the 73rd minute that the deadlock was broken. The home team lost 3-0 due to lack of fitness and conceded three goals in a row in the final moments of the game. With a gap of 3 goals, the Uzbekistan women's football team will travel to Melbourne, Australia on the 28th local time to play the opponent again. However, in the eyes of the AFC and all walks of life, the Australian women's football team has one foot in the women's football main match of the Paris Olympics.
The AFC commented, "The teams that can advance to the third round of the Olympic preliminary round are very good. It's a pity that there are only 2 tickets for them to compete for, and this competition is undoubtedly cruel."
Text: Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yun.
Edited by Wang Haozhou.