Manolo Marquez’s India has been drawn in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers along with Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh.
India will begin its campaign to qualify for the third straight finals appearance next year when it hosts Bangladesh on March 25.
The Blue Tigers will need to finish top of the standings after six matches in March 2026 to qualify for the finals in Saudi Arabia.
Sportstar looks at India’s opponents ahead of the qualifiers
1) Hong Kong(Ranking: 156)
India has previously faced Hong Kong in the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata in 2022. India beat Hong Kong 4-0 that night which sealed its berth in Qatar.
Englishman Ashley Westwood is the current coach of the Dragons, who was appointed in August to replace Norwegian Jorn Andersen. Andersen ended his three-year stint with Hong Kong, where he led the team to the finals for the first time since 1968.
Westwood foiled India’s chances of advancing to the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers with Afghanistan when his under-strength side played out a 1-1 draw at home before beating India 2-1 away.
READ | AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers: India in Group C with Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangladesh
Since Westwood’s appointment, Hong Kong has lost just once, a 0-1 defeat to Liechtenstein, in its seven matches. The defeat saw Westwood lashing out critical supporters before he was singled out over his frequent trips to Australia in between the international breaks.
Post that, Hong Kong has beaten the likes of Cambodia, Philippines, Mauritius and Mongolia at home.
Most of their players play domestic football in the Hong Kong Premier League or in the Chinese Super League.
2) Singapore (Ranking: 161)
Singapore is aiming to qualify for the Asian Cup finals for the first time since 1984, when it hosted the tournament.
Following the recent trend of Japanese coaches, Tsutomu Ogura was named as the head coach for the Lions this year in February. Ogura doesn’t have much experience with managing senior teams and has served in assistant coaching roles with several clubs J1 League clubs and the Japanese national team.
His only senior head coaching role came with Omiya Ardija in J1 League in 2013-14, where it was relegated. Ogura then went on to serve as the sportingf director of Yokohama F. Marinos between 2018 and 2022.
Singapore has played just seven matches this year with a solitary win coming against Myanmar in November. It earned a creditable 2-2 draw at home to China but was hammered by the Chinese in the return leg of the World Cup qualifiers. Singapore was handed a heavy 0-7 defeat to Asian powerhouse South Korea before it finished the campaign with a 1-3 loss to Thailand.
India was held to a 1-1 draw in its last meeting with Singapore in 2022 when Ashqiue Kuruniyan scored the equaliser in the VFF Tri Series tournament in Vietnam.
The Singapore team has players from both Singapore Premier League and Malaysia Super League.
3) Bangladesh (Ranking: 185)
The lowest-ranked team in the group is the neighbouring Bangladesh, which is aiming for its second-ever Asian Cup finals appearance and its first sine 1980.
Javier Cabrera has remained at the helm since 2022 but results have not been favourable for the Spaniard. In the last 12 months, its only wins have come against Maldives and Bhutan, and Bangladesh Premier League team Fortis FC.
Bangladesh has proved to be a stumbling block fo India in the past during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, when it was held to a 1-1 draw at home before it beat the Bengal Tigers 2-0 away from home.
The national team squad is made up of players from the Bangladesh Premier League.
