The Indian men’s football team has been placed in a challenging group alongside Australia, Syria, and Uzbekistan in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2023 tournament, to be held in Doha next January. Despite having a successful qualifying campaign, India was drawn in pot 4 and placed in Group B. The tournament originally scheduled for this summer had to be postponed and relocated to Qatar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be India’s fifth appearance in the Asian Cup, having qualified for back-to-back editions for the first time. In the previous edition, India started strongly with a convincing win over Thailand but lost their last two matches, ending their hopes of progression.
Regarding the group draw, Indian head coach Igor Stimac said, “There are no easy groups in the AFC Asian Cup. We know all the teams that we have been drawn with, and we will be well-prepared for the challenge ahead.”
The host nation, Qatar, was automatically drawn in Group A and will play the opening match of the tournament. Iran has been placed in Group C, Japan in Group D, South Korea in Group E, and Saudi Arabia in Group F.
The draw has generated excitement and anticipation for the tournament, with fans eagerly waiting to see how the teams will perform. As the tournament draws closer, football enthusiasts around the world will be eagerly watching and cheering for their favourite teams.
Groupings: Group A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon
Group B: Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, India
Group C: Iran, UAE, Hong Kong, Palestine
Group D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam
Group E: South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain
Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyz Republic, Oman.
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