Huỳnh Như and Ho Chi Minh City Women Face Tough AFC Champions League Group

Ho Chi Minh City Women face a demanding test in their third AFC Women’s Champions League campaign after being drawn alongside strong teams from South Korea and North Korea.

The Asian Football Confederation made the draw in Kuala Lumpur on September 3. Twelve teams were divided into three groups, with Ho Chi Minh City placed in Group B alongside Hwacheon KSPO WFC of South Korea, North Korea’s April 25, also known as 4.25 SC, and India’s East Bengal.

Hwacheon KSPO are South Korean champions and entered directly into the group stage. April 25 also comes from one of Asia’s strongest women’s football systems. The North Korean side went through three qualifying matches unbeaten, scoring 29 goals and conceding only once, in a 4-1 win over Thailand’s College of Asian Scholars.

East Bengal appear more attainable on paper. The Indian club won all three qualifying matches without conceding and scored 18 goals. In last year’s competition, however, East Bengal exited in the group stage with three points from three games.

Ho Chi Minh City reached the semifinals in its first appearance, losing 2-0 to host Wuhan Jiangda of China. Last year, the team fell in the quarterfinals after a 3-0 defeat by North Korea’s Naegohyang, which later won the title by beating Japan’s NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 in the final.

The Vietnamese club will play Group B in India in November. The top two teams from each group, together with the two best third-place teams, will reach the quarterfinals. Domestically, Ho Chi Minh City I lead the 2026 national league with 25 points from nine matches, six points clear of Hanoi I, as they pursue an eighth consecutive championship.