China PR

The Steel Roses qualified for the 2018 Women’s Asian Cup as one of the top three ranked sides from the 2014 edition of the tournament.

China is still in the process of adjusting to new manager Sigurður Ragnar Eyjólfsson.

The Icelandic native has only been in the top job since mid-November after coaching his home country’s women’s side for seven years as well as Chinese Women’s Super League side Jiangsu Suning.

The likes of Wang Shanshan and Wang Shuang shine up forward with the pair contributing four of the eight goals at the Four Nations tournament in January this year.

Goalkeeper Wang Fei is one of the few Chinese players to ply her trade overseas, recently signing for Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga after spells at Turbine Potsdam and Olympique Lyon in France.

Team: 1. ZHAO Lina, 2. LIU Shanshan, 3. XUE Jiao, 4. LI Danyang, 5. WU Haiyan, 6. LIN Yuping, 7. WANG Shuang, 8. MA Jun, 9. TANG Jiali, 10. LI Ying, 11. WANG Shanshan, 12. PENG Shimeng, 13. LYU Yueyun, 14. XU Yanlu, 15. SONG Duan, 16. YAN Jinjin, 17. GU Yasha, 18. HAN Peng, 19. TAN Ruyin, 20. ZHANG Rui, 21. XIAO Yuyi , 22. XU Huan, 23. REN Guixin 

Jordan

Jordan will be making its second appearance at the Asian Cup after debuting in 2014.

They lost every game at that tournament but with the extra motivation of playing on home soil, the team known as Al Nashmiyat will be aiming high.

While they qualified by being hosts, they were allowed to compete in the qualification tournament.

On top of that, Jordan has been busy in the last few months playing friendlies against clubs, academies and national teams from Spain, Japan, Thailand, Latvia, Cyprus, Afghanistan and France.

American Michael Dickey became the head coach in mid-2017 and has plenty of experience with assistant coach roles for the USA’s junior teams.

The player to watch will be Maysa Jbarah who was prolific in 2017 with 23 goals including 13 games in the qualification tournament and has continued that form in 2018.

Stephanie Al-Naber is a veteran of the team and has been part of the national team since 2005, winning three West Asia Women’s Championship titles and an Arabia Cup.

They have a relatively young squad with the oldest player being captain Al-Naber.

Team: 1. Sherin Rai’d ALSHALABE, 2. Haya Marwan KHALIL, 3. Tala AL BARGHOUTHY, 4. Luna Rami ALMASRI, 5. Anfal ALSUFY, 6. Razan ALZAGHA, 7. Yasmeen KHAIR, 8. Stephanie ALNABER, 9. Alia Abu EL HAWA, 10. Sarah Basem ABU-SABBAH, 11. Maysa Ziad JBARAH, 12. Salma Mohanad GHAZAL, 13. Lana Waleed Issa FERAS, 14. Hannah Ibrahim AL-KOUSHEH, 15. Mai Salem Butros SWEILEM, 16. Shahnaz JEBREEN, 17. Rouzbahan Read A. FRAIJ, 18. Hebah Fakher ELDDIN, 19. Aya Faisal AL-MAJALI, 20. Shorooq Khalil SHATHLI, 21. Rand Iyad Jawdat ABU-HUSSEIN, 22. Malak Khaled Abed SHANAK, 23. Tasneem Yasin ABU-ROB​

Philippines

The Philippines Women’s National Football Team (PWNFT) qualified via a powerful display seeing them finish second in their qualifying group.

Ranked 69th in the world, PWNFT started out on fire, scoring 16 goals across three matches defeating United Arab Emirates (4-0), Iraq (4-0) and Tajikistan (8-0).

It wasn’t until their fourth qualification match that PWNFT conceded their first goal, fighting back to snatch a 1-1 draw against Bahrain.

In their fifth and final qualification match, PFWNT stumbled, going down to Asian Cup hosts Jordan 5-1.

Coach Richard Boon has only been at the helm since late 2017 but has been working hard in camps to instil his style of football. 

Eva Madarang is a key player to watch, the 19-year-old forward scored four goals across the five qualification games.

Recent international results have not been strong with one win at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games before losing their three matches against Vietnam (3-0), Myanmar (6-0) and Thailand (3-1).

They have never managed to get past the group stage of an Asian Cup and 2018 is the time in 15 years they have qualified for the tournament.

Team: 1. Inna PALACIOS, 2. Claire LIM, 3. Alesa DOLINO, 4. Krystal DE RAMOS, 5. Hali LONG, 6. Morgan BROWN, 7. Camille RODRIGUEZ, 8. Maria PARK, 9. Jesse SHUGG, 10. Caitlyn KREUTZ, 11. Ryley BUGAY, 12. Kearra BASTES-JONES, 13. Leah LAROT, 14. Sara CASTAÑEDA, 15. Alexa DIAZ, 16. Stacey CAVILL, 17. Calah SIMARAGO, 18. Tahnai ANNIS, 19. Patrice IMPELIDO, 20. Quinley QUEZADA, 21. Jessica MICLAT, 22. Chalise BAYSA, 23. Sarina BOLDEN 

Thailand

Thailand is making their 16th appearance in the Asian Cup, equalled only by Japan.

Currently ranked 30th in the world, Thailand is one of the most successful Southeast Asian football teams, having previously won the Asian Cup, three AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Championships and five Southeast Asian Games titles.

However, since 1986 they have only made past the group stage once where they placed fifth in 2014.

This time around, Thailand qualified by virtue of topping the Group C leaderboard, in a group in which both Lebanon and Guam withdrew, leaving only Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Palestine in the running.

Kanjana Sungngoen is one key player to look out for, the attacking midfielder has amassed 30 goals over 47 international appearances.

Nisa Romyen is also dangerous in attack, with 32 goals over 48 international appearances.

Thailand is coached by Nuengruethai Sathongwien, who had previously led them in 2014, after Spencer Prior resigned from the role in September 2017.

Team:  1. Waraporn BOONSING, 2. Kanjanaporn SAENKHUN, 3. Natthakarn CHINWONG, 4. Duangapa SRITALA, 5. Ainon PHANCHA, 6. Pikul KHUEANPET, 7. Silawan INTAMEE, 8. Suchawadee NILDHAMRONG, 9 Warunee PHETWISET, 10. Sunisa SRANGTHAISONG, 11. Alisa RUKPINIJ, 12. Rattikan THONGSOMBUT, 13. Orathai SRIMANEE, 14. Saowaluk PENGNGAM, 15. Nipawan PANYOSUK, 16. Khwanrudi SAENGCHAN, 17. Taneekarn DANGDA, 18. Sukanya CHOR CHAROENYING, 19. Pitsamai SORNSAI, 20. Wilaiporn BOOTHDUANG, 21. Kanjana SUNG-NGOEN, 22. Nattaruja MUTHTANAWECH, 23. Kanyanat CHETTHABUTR