The Indian men’s football team on Thursday drew a tough group with heavyweights like Australia, Syria, and Uzbekistan in the 2024 AFC Asian Cup, to be held in Doha in January. India, who had a successful qualifying campaign for the prestigious tournament, were in pot 4 in the draw. India will compete in Group B in the tournament.
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Twenty-four teams were divided into four pots, and drawn into six groups of four teams each for the tournament that was originally scheduled to take place in China this summer.
India have qualified for back-to-back editions of the tournament for the first time. The one in Qatar’s capital will be their fifth appearance in the tournament. In the last edition, India started with a convincing win against Thailand but lost their last two matches. They had to return home after two straight defeats. Qatar are the host Nation. They were automatically into Group A and will play the tournament opener. Iran are in Group C while Japan will compete in Group D. South Korea are in Group E and Saudi Arabia get in Group F.
AFC Asian Cup 2024: Groups
- 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
The winners and runners-up of the six groups, along with the four best third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. If India is through to the final 16, here is how its schedule will be:
Knockouts:
- Round of 16: January 31 to February 2, 2024
- Quarterfinals: February 4-5, 2024
- Semifinal: February 7-8, 2024
- Final: February 10, 2024
Venues:
Eight stadiums will host the games – Education City Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium, Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, and Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. Six of these venues were used during the FIFA World Cup 2022.
