Wuhan Jiangda women s football team qualified for the first place in the AFC Champions League and took the first step to defend the title

Sports Weekly All-Media Original

On the evening of November 24, the Wuhan Chegujiang Women’s Football Team defeated Iran’s Bam Katoon Women’s Football Team 4-0 at home and entered the AFC Champions League quarter-finals as the first in the group. After going through a devilish schedule, the Wuhan team successfully reached the knockout round of the AFC Women's Football Team and took the first step to defend the title.

In this game, we faced the Bam Cartoon Women’s Football Team, the last eight top team. The main players Wang Shuang, Yao Wei, Liu Yanqiu, Wu Haiyan and others did not start the game due to fatigue and the fact that they had to rush to London to participate in the warm-up match against the England Women’s Football Team.

After the game started, the Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team did not play easily. The opponent's iron barrel tactics made it difficult for the Wuhan team to find a way to score. It was not until the last moment of stoppage time in the first half that Owusu completed the goal. In the second half, after Owusu scored another victory with a header, Deng Mengye and Zhao Jingyi added the icing on the cake, helping the team win a 4-0 victory.

In the entire game, the Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team had an absolute advantage, with a ball possession rate of 70% and as many as 17 shots, while the opponent only had 4 shots, basically unable to threaten the Wuhan team's goal. After 2 wins and 1 draw in the group stage, Wuhan Chegujiang Girls was enough to qualify first in the group. Judging from the three games, as long as the personnel are intact, the Wuhan Women's Football Team will still be dominant in Asia.

According to the regulations of this season’s Women’s AFC Champions League, a total of 12 teams will participate in the main match. In the group stage, the teams were divided into three groups, with the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stage.

In addition to the Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team in Group A, the Uzbekistan Nasav Women's Football Team in the same group, Australia's Melbourne City Women's Football Team, Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Team, and the Philippines' Neihu Stallions Women's Football Team in Group B; Group C's Japan's Tokyo Green Beauty Women's Football Team, North Korea's My Hometown Women's Football Team, and South Korea's Suwon Women's Football Team have all reached the top 8 knockout rounds.

The draw for the AFC Champions League knockout round will be held in January next year, and the game will be held in March next year. Judging from past practice, the home and away game mechanism will be determined based on the results of the group stage. The Wuhan Chegujiang University Women's Football Team, which won the first place, will have the home field advantage.

In the first match of the group stage, the Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team, which participated as the seed team, sent out a large number of substitute players. As a result, it was tied 1-1 by the underdog Nasaf Women's Football Team. Ma Jun's penalty kick was saved during the game, and the team was in poor condition. The main reason is that the team based on the Wuhan Women's Football Team has just participated in the National Games on behalf of the Hubei Women's Football Team. Many players returned to Wuhan to participate in the AFC Champions League in less than 48 hours after the National Games Women's Football Finals. They were exhausted and many players were still fighting with injuries. The conflict in this event has also triggered a debate among the outside world about which is more important.

In the second game of the group stage, Wang Shuang, Liu Yanqiu, Yao Wei and other veterans returned to the starting lineup. The Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team had an easy game. Wang Shuang scored twice in the first 17 minutes, helping the team defeat the East Bengal Women's Football Team from India 2-0. After the game, coach Chang Weiwei revealed that many people, including Wang Shuang and Yao Wei, played with injuries.

In the previously concluded Chinese Women’s Super League, the Wuhan Chegujiang University Women’s Football Team only finished fifth and failed to achieve its sixth consecutive championship in the league. The team’s intensive schedule, coupled with problems such as constant injuries and aging players, hindered the team’s performance.

In the first women's AFC Champions League in May 2025, the Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team went all the way and won the championship through a penalty shootout against the Melbourne City Women's Football Team in the final. They made history and received a bonus of US$1.33 million.

As the defending champion, the Wuhan Women’s Football Team’s goal this time is still the AFC Champions League, and their main competitor is the Melbourne City Women’s Football Team. However, compared with the last time they won the championship, the current Wuhan Women's Football Team has many problems that need to be solved urgently. In addition to adding strong substitute players, the team's injury problems may also affect their future results.

(Text/Changle)