The draw for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup was conducted on SAT 09 DEC 2017, and host nation Jordan were handed a favourable outcome, as the AFC’s two highest ranked women’s teams, Japan and Australia, both ended up in the other group.

As host nation, Jordan were assigned to Group A. This left title holders Japan in Group B, but the Matildas were promptly drawn into the same group. At the last Women’s Asian Cup, Japan and Australia played to a 2-2 draw in the group phase, and they met again in the final, when the Nadeshiko were victorious by a 1-0 scoreline.

Jordan do have two challenging opponents with Women’s World Cup experience in China PR and Thailand, with the Philippines expected to be no pushovers. Meanwhile, Japan and Australia are joined in Group B by the Korea Rep and Vietnam.

The tournament is due to start on FRI 06 APR 2018. The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals and qualify directly for the Women’s World Cup. The two third placed teams play off in the fifth place match to decide the AFC’s final representative.

• Group A: Jordan, China PR, Thailand, Philippines
• Group B: Japan, Australia, Korea Rep, Vietnam