Similar to the Asian Games where they exited with just one goal for themselves in the group stage, Indian women's football team lost 1-3 to Vietnam in a group C match of the AFC qualifiers at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Sunday. After losing their second match in a row, India are now out of contention for the 2024 Olympics despite having a match to play against the host Uzbekistan. India lost their opener 0-7 to former World Cup champions Japan.

It was a sad end of Thomas Dennerby’s aspirations for the Indian team as he had told his wards to "keep the Olympic dreams burning" despite the losing the first match.

Dennerby approached the second game with more of an offensive strategy as he placed Manisha Kalyan and Soumya Guguloth in starting XI and played Bala Devi as a central midfielder. However, nothing could deter Vietnam as they took the lead in the very first four minutes of the game. Captain and striker of Vietnam Huyn Nhu found the back of the net with a stunning header when some confusion between India centre-back Ashalata Devi and right-back Sanju resulted in a loss of possession.

The next two goals were headers as well with the first one from an unmarked Tran Thi Hai Linh heading a Doung Thi Van cross from the right, and the second one from substitute Pham Hai Yen right into the Indian goal. 

The coach made some substitutions and changes in the formations for the Indian team after the breather. It did lend a certain amount of stability to the defence, however, India failed to capitalise on a couple of chances to goal. 

Again in the 73rd minute substitute Pham Hai Yen found the back of the net and scored the third goal for Vietnam. This goal changed things, as India brought on Sandhiya Ranganathan, who pulled one back as she ran onto a deep cross-field ball off a free-kick by Ritu Rani, and headed it past the Vietnam keeper. But it was not enough to keep their Paris dreams alive.