AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers: India Grouped Alongside Qatar, Bahrain, Brunei

Last Updated:May 29, 2025, 16:54 IST

Qatar will host the Group H games, slated to be held between the 1st and 9th of September.

Naushad Moosa. (Image: X)

The Indian U23 men’s football team has been grouped alongside hosts Qatar, Bahrain, and Brunei Darussalam in Group H at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the draw held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Qatar will host the Group H games, slated to be held between the 1st and 9th of September.

Forty-four teams were divided into eleven groups of four sides each, with the winner of each group and the four best runners-up sides earning the right to feature in the AFC U23 Asian Cup, slated to be held in Saudi Arabia in January 2026.

India were placed in Pot 3 in the seeding that hinged on the points system derived from the nations’ final rankings over the past three iterations of the tournament.

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The Indian U23 team is set to be helmed by head coach Naushad Moosa, who will take charge of the side starting on the 1st of June at the training camp scheduled to be held in Kolkata, before jetting off to Tajikistan for a couple of friendly games against the host nation and Kyrgyz Republic on the 18th and 21st of June respectively.

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AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers draw:

Group A: Jordan (Hosts), Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, Bhutan

Group B: Japan, Kuwait, Myanmar (H), Afghanistan

Group C: Vietnam (H), Yemen, Singapore, Bangladesh

Group D: Australia, China (H), Timor-Leste, Northern Mariana Islands

Group E: Uzbekistan, Palestine, Kyrgyz Republic (H), Sri Lanka

Group F: Thailand (H), Malaysia, Lebanon, Mongolia

Group G: Iraq, Cambodia (H), Oman, Pakistan

Group H: Qatar (H), Bahrain, India, Brunei Darussalam

Group I: United Arab Emirates (H), IR Iran, Hong Kong China, Guam

Group J: Korea Republic, Indonesia (H), Laos, Macau

Group K: Tajikistan, Syria, Philippines, Nepal.

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