The Asian Football Federation (AFC) Asian Cup serves as the first continental qualifier for the World Cup next year as eight of the region's top teams battle it out for the five available qualifying berths.

China followed on from a dominant 7-0 thrashing of Thailand on their opening day of fixtures on Thursday (May 15) to defeat Myanmar 3-0 and become the first team to gain progression to the semi-finals, booking a spot on the plane to Canada for next year's World Cup.

South Korea quickly followed as they added a 4-0 win over Thailand to the 12-0 demolition of Myanmar in their first match.

The teams will now face each other later today to determine the Group B leader coming into the semi-finals.

South Korea quickly followed China into the Asian Cup semi-finals and booked a spot in the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada ©Getty Images



An opening day 2-2 draw between Australia and Japan left Group A wide open coming into the second match, as Vietnam took a surprising lead after beating Jordan.

Normality was restored soon after, however, as the Vietnamese hosts fell to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Japan, with Australia drawing level atop the leaderboard with a 3-1 victory over Jordan.

Japan and Australia's progression to the semis, and more importantly the 2015 World Cup, was ensured yesterday as the group's final day of fixtures saw a win apiece for the two sides, Japan beating Jordan 7-0 and Australia toppling Vietnam 2-0.

The final World Cup berth will be determined on Wednesday (May 21) when hosts Vietnam, who finished third in Group A, battle it out with the third-placed team in Group B.

The third-placed Group B side will be determined later today as Thailand and Myanmar go head-to-head in their final group fixture.

The semi-finals are set to take place the day after the fifth place play-off, Thursday (May 22), with the third-place play-off and final due to be held on Sunday (May 25).

All knockout matches will take place at the Thống Nhất Stadium in Hồ Chí Minh City, home of every match to date bar two, which have been held at the Gò Đậu Stadium in Thủ Dầu Một.

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