Manisha Kalyan's free-kick stuns Taipei but India lose 1-3 to conclude Asia Cup campaign

Women's Asia Cup 2026: Manisha Kalyan's stunning free-kick gave India a brief moment of hope, but Chinese Taipei ran out 3-1 winners in Sydney, ending India's Women's Asia Cup campaign without a single point.

India's campaign at the Women's Asia Cup ended without a point, but Manisha Kalyan gave the fans a moment to savour before Chinese Taipei confirmed a 3-1 victory in Sydney on Tuesday to advance to the quarter-finals.

India had already been eliminated heading into the game, but they pushed for an early lead when Martina Thokchom's header struck the post. Chinese Taipei took the lead shortly after, as Sanju Yadav's wayward pass to the keeper was intercepted by Chen Jin-wen, who crossed for Su Yu-hsuan to finish easily.

Manisha Kalyan pulled India level in the 39th minute with a stunning long-range free kick. Her powerful left-footed strike rattled the crossbar before bouncing behind the line, briefly raising hopes of an unlikely result.

A strike so pure, it needed VAR to confirmCatch all the action from the AFC Women's Asian Cup LIVE on FanCode #AFCWomensAsianCup pic.twitter.com/TJ9f3u59Zj— FanCode (@FanCode) March 10, 2026

Those hopes did not last long. Chinese Taipei retook the lead on the stroke of halftime in fortunate circumstances, when Hsu Yi-yun's penalty came off the post, struck Indian keeper Elangbam Panthoi Chanu's back and rolled into the net. Wu Kai-ching then set up Chen Yu-chin with a defence-splitting through ball in the 77th minute, and Taiwan's place in the last eight was confirmed.

India ended their campaign with zero points and a goal difference of minus 14, the worst in the group stage. Their 11-0 defeat to Japan at the weekend had already made qualification impossible.