Shillong, Mar 4: Sanfida Nongrum had an international debut that footballers can only dream of as she scored just seven minutes into her maiden appearance for the Indian senior national women’s football team in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Group C match in Perth today.
Unfortunately, however, Vietnam snatched a winner in second half stoppage time and took the contest 2-1. Van Su Ngan Thi (30′, 90’+4) scored for Vietnam on either side of Sanfida’s 52nd minute effort.
Sanfida thus became the first player from Meghalaya to feature for the Indian senior women’s team, an historic moment for the state.
On the bench for the first half, she was drafted in by coach Amelia Valverde at the start of the second 45 minutes with India 1-0 down.
Less than 10 minutes later (and after Vietnam had a second goal disallowed for handball through VAR), Sanfida ensured history would remember her for a long time to come. India were on the counterattack and Vietnam conceded a foul. Sanfida went for goal with the free-kick and, though the opposition goalkeeper got a hand to it, the ball settled into the back of the net.
The midfielder from Meghalaya was not done, however, as she went close with a header over the bar in the 64th minute, and she played a huge role in defensive and offensive duties, working well with both the defence and forwards.
She was shown a yellow card for a rough tackle in the 70th minute but that couldn’t take anything away from her magical first appearance for the national team.
India will next play Japan on March 7 in Perth at 4:30pm IST. Japan had beaten Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) 2-0 today.
