The India Under-23 men’s national football team has been clubbed alongside Qatar, Bahrain, and Brunei Darussalam in Group H of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, in the draw ceremony held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (May 27, 2025).
Qatar, which is the highest seeded team among the four in the group, will be hosting the Group H league with the matches scheduled to be played between September 1 to 9, 2025. A total of 44 teams have been divided into 11 groups of four each. The group winners and the four best runners-up, alongside the host of the final stage Saudi Arabia, will compete for the title in the seventh edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup, which will be held in January 2026.
The Indian team will start its preparations under the charge of former India international Naushad Moosa, who has previously been named the head coach. The Blue Colts will assemble in Kolkata for a training camp on June 1 before flying off to Tajikistan to play two friendly matches against Tajikistan (on June 18) and Kyrgyz Republic (June 21). Similarly, the Indian team will utilise all the upcoming FIFA International windows to set up camps and play exposure friendlies to prepare for the qualifiers.
Published – May 30, 2025 04:33 am IST