2027 Asian Cup qualifiers: Blue Tigers get a lifeline with an easy draw

The groupings for final round qualifiers of AFC Asian Cup 2027 (Saudi Arabia) have handed India a lifeline as they have been clubbed with three lower ranked opponents in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh in Group C. The Blue Tigers, aiming to make it to the Asian Cup finals three times in a row, will feature in six match days in a home-and-away basis between 25 March, 2025 and 31 March, 2026.

 India are placed 127th as per the Fifa Rankings released in November while Hong Kong are 156th, Singapore 161st and Bangladesh 185th. The draw, which saw 24 teams divided into six groups of four, was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur today.

 Only the six group winners will qualify and join the 18 teams who have already punched their tickets to the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia  after the second round of qualifying. India had failed to cross the group stages of both the 2019 and 2023 editions of the event in the UAE and Qatar, respectively.

 The Blue Tigers have faced all three opponents in the recent past with them meeting Bangladesh last in the 2021 SAFF Championship, Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022 and Singapore in the Hưng Thịnh Friendly Tournament in Vietnam in September 2022. They missed the chance of automatically making it to the final round of Qualifiers when they failed to make the third round of Fifa 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in June.

Hong Kong improved: Manolo

 Analysing the draw, India’s new head coach Manolo Márquez said: ‘’We are a Pot 1 team and we need to show why we are the favourites to qualify. There are not too many differences between groups. Every group is difficult. Hong Kong has improved a lot with naturalised players and with their coach Ashley Westwood, who India played against in the World Cup Qualifiers (while he was in charge of Afghanistan).

  The Spaniard, for whom this is the biggest assignment since taking over from Igor Stimac, said: ‘’We will play against Bangladesh first in March, who have been our regular opponents in the SAFF Championship. We know the calendar. We have six games and we need to top the group and qualify for the Asian Cup.’’

India’s fixtures

March 25, 2025: India vs Bangladesh (home)
June 10, 2025: Hong Kong vs India (away)
October 9, 2025: India vs Singapore (home)
October 14, 2025: Singapore vs India (away)
November 18, 2025: Bangladesh vs India (away)
March 31, 2026: India vs Hong Kong (home)