Doha, May 11: India were on Thursday drawn in a tough Group B of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup alongside the continent’s heavyweights Australia, Syria and Uzbekistan here. The draw was conducted at the Qatar Opera House in the Qatari capital.
The Blue Tigers, who are placed at 101 in the FIFA rankings, will be playing the Asian Cup for the fifth time. India’s opponents in the tournament proper, Australia are ranked 29th in the world, Uzbekistan are 74th, and Syria occupy the 90th position.
All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey, senior men’s national team head coach Igor Stimac, and women’s side coach Maymol Rocky were present at the venue for the official draw ceremony. Beginning from Pot 4, India were the first team to be drawn into Group B, gaining B4, after which they were placed alongside Syria (B3), Uzbekistan (B2) and Australia (B1), respectively.
Speaking ahead of the draw, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said that there has been great progress since the last time the AFC Asian Cup was played in Qatar 12 years ago. (PTI)
Groupings
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.
