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The draws for the final round of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 were announced on Monday, December 9, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the draws, India were drawn against Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh in Group C of the tournament. On the other hand, Group E of the draw saw Pakistan being drawn against Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar. Notably, the draw saw 24 teams being divided into six groups of four.
Out of these 24 teams, only six group winners will qualify and join the rest of the 18 teams who have already made their way to the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 after the second round of qualifying. The final round of the qualifiers will be played over six match days in a home-and-away format between March 25, 2025 and March 21, 2026. The tournament will see India eyeing their third qualification in a row for the first time in their history.
We need to show why we are favourites to qualify: India Head Coach Manolo Marquez
The Blue Tigers have faced all of their three opponents in the recent past. They last faced Bangladesh in the 2021 SAFF Championship, Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022 and Singapore in the Hung Thinh Friendly Tournament in Vietnam in September 2022. As per the latest FIFA Rankings released in November, India are placed 127th, Hong Kong are 156th, Singapore are ranked 161st and Bangladesh are on the 185th spot.
After the draw, Indian 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). 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."
