After Thailand's demoralizing 13-0 loss to the United States last week, it got me thinking: How did a team of that quality actually qualify for the World Cup? They had to be better than somebody right?
So qualification for the World Cup for Asian nations began with qualifying for the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Thailand was initially drawn into a group with Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, Palestine and Guam. However, both Lebanon and Guam withdrew from the tournament leaving just three teams in the group. Thailand beaten Palestine (ranked 111th in the world) 6-0 and Chinese Taipei (ranked 40th) 1-0 to win the group and qualify for the final tournament held in April 2018.
The top 5 teams from the 2018 Asian Cup would all qualify for this summer's World Cup so a top-two finish in either four-team group would result in automatic qualification. Thailand was drawn into a group with China (ranked 16th), the Philippines (74th) and Jordan (54th). After opening the tournament with a 4-0 loss to China, Thailand bounced back to defeat Jordan 6-1 and the Philippines 3-1 to clinch a World Cup berth as well as a spot in the knockout round.
In the knockout round, Thailand would fall to Australia in a shootout after playing to a 2-2 draw, and then lost the consolation game 3-1 to China to finish fourth in the tournament. In the end the AFC would be represented by tournament winners Japan, Australia, China, Thailand and South Korea.
You can read more about the 2018 Asian Cup here and the current Women's FIFA Rankings here.
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