| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Australia | 
| City | Adelaide | 
| Dates | 16–30 July | 
| Teams | 9 (from 1 confederation) | 
| Venue(s) | Hindmarsh Stadium Marden Sports Complex | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  China  (8th title) | 
| Runners-up |  Australia | 
| Third place |  North Korea | 
| Fourth place |  Japan | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 20 | 
| Goals scored | 77 (3.85 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) |  Yūki Nagasato  Jung Jung-suk (7 goals) | 
| ← 2003   2008 → | |
The 2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup was a women's football tournament for women's national teams from countries affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation. It was the 15th installment of the AFC Women's Asian Cup.
Unlike the previous tournament which was held every two years, the tournament was moved back a year to 2006. The structure of the competition changed for this tournament, with a qualifying tournament and a separate championship tournament.
The four qualifiers of the sub-tournament (Vietnam, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, Thailand) went on to compete for the Championship proper against the four automatic finalists (China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea). Australia were added to the final tournament following their switch from Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian confederation. The finals of the tournament were held in Australia in July 2006 - the hosting rights were originally given to Japan, but after Australia moved conferences, they were given the hosting rights. All matches in the main tournament were held in Adelaide.
The tournament also acted as Asia's qualifying tournament for the 2007 Women's World Cup. Two spots were available in addition to the automatic spot given to China as World Cup hosts. China won the tournament, beating hosts Australia in the final. Thus, Australia took the first qualifying spot, while North Korea defeated Japan in the third place play-off to take second place. Despite beating China in the group stages, Japan then played off with the third-placed team in the CONCACAF region, Mexico, who they beat over two legs to qualify for the tournament. This tournament would also mark the first time an Australian national team (senior or youth) would officially compete as an Asian side on the international stage.
Japan, China, North Korea and South Korea qualified by virtue of occupying the four top spots in the 2003 AFC Women's Championship.
The tournament was held in Adelaide, South Australia, with Hindmarsh Stadium being the main venue, hosting all matches except for one of the two concurrent last matches in each of the two groups, which were held at Marden Sports Complex.
| Hindmarsh Stadium | 
| Capacity: 16,500 | 
|  | 
| Marden Sports Complex | 
| Capacity: 6,000 | 
|   | 
All matches in the group stage were held at Hindmarsh Stadium, except the Chinese Taipei v Vietnam and Thailand v Australia matches, which took place at Marden Sports Complex.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 9 | 
|  China | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | 
|  Vietnam | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 3 | 
|  Chinese Taipei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 | 
| China  | 2–0 |  Chinese Taipei | 
|---|---|---|
| Han Duan  11' Pu Wei  64' | Report | 
| Japan  | 11–1 |  Chinese Taipei | 
|---|---|---|
| Ohno  9' Nagasato  29', 33', 46', 71', 90+2' Sawa  38', 80' Sakaguchi  48', 89' Yanagita  68' | Hsieh I-ling  35' | 
| Chinese Taipei  | 0–1 |  Vietnam | 
|---|---|---|
| Vũ Thị Huyền Linh  70' | 
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  North Korea | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | +13 | 10 | 
|  Australia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | +11 | 10 | 
|  South Korea | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 6 | 
|  Thailand | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 26 | −24 | 3 | 
|  Myanmar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 | 
| Myanmar  | 1–2 |  Thailand | 
|---|---|---|
| Daw My Nilar Htwe  60' | Report | Pitsamai  34', 55' | 
| Australia  | 4–0 |  South Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| Shin Sun-nam  30' (o.g.) Walsh  66' Munoz  75' De Vanna  87' | Report | 
| Thailand  | 0–9 |  North Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| Report | Ri Kum-suk  8', 34' Ri Un-suk  31' Kim Than-sil  36', 73' Ho Sun-hui  43' Jo Yun-mi  59' Kim Yong-ae  67', 87' | 
| North Korea  | 3–0 |  Myanmar | 
|---|---|---|
| Ri Un-suk  23', 37' Ri Un-gyong  85' | 
| South Korea  | 11–0 |  Thailand | 
|---|---|---|
| Cha Yun-hee  30', 44' Jung Jung-suk  39', 50', 71', 80', 83', 86' Kim Joo-hee  42' Kim Jin-hee  69' Jung Sey-hwa  87' | 
| South Korea  | 3–1 |  Myanmar | 
|---|---|---|
| Kim Joo-hee  7' Jin Suk-hee  35' Jung Jung-suk  64' | Aye Nandar Hlaing  90' | 
| Australia  | 0–0 |  North Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| North Korea  | 1–0 |  South Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| Kim Yong-ae  76' | 
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 27 July | ||||||
|  China | 1 | |||||
| 30 July | ||||||
|  North Korea | 0 | |||||
|  China  (p) | 2 (4) | |||||
| 27 July | ||||||
|  Australia | 2 (2) | |||||
|  Australia | 2 | |||||
|  Japan | 0 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 30 July | ||||||
|  North Korea | 3 | |||||
|  Japan | 2 | |||||
Winners qualify for the 2007 Women's World Cup.
In the China v North Korea match, China conceded a potential equaliser in injury time, but it was disallowed for offside. The North Koreans reacted by throwing bottles and other objects at the referees, and North Korean goalkeeper Han Hye-yong kicked Italian referee Anna De Toni from behind. Three North Korean players, including Han, were suspended before the third place play-off. North Korea protested the decision, demanding a rematch and a reversal of the suspensions. [1]
| China  | 1–0 |  North Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| Ma Xiaoxu  58' | 
As China were automatically qualified as hosts, North Korea qualified for the World Cup as the third-placed team in the tournament. Japan will play off with the third-placed team from the 2006 Women's Gold Cup in the CONCACAF region.
| Japan  | 2–3 |  North Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| Ando  43' Nagasato  89' | Ri Un-suk  23' Ri Un-gyong  33', 39' | 
| 2006 AFC Women's Championship winners | 
|---|
|  China Eighth title | 
There were 77 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 3.85 goals per match.
7 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
 Shin Sun-nam (against Australia)
  Shin Sun-nam (against Australia)