AFC Asian Cup 2019: India finds itself in a favourable draw

by Chittu Shetty January 24, 2017

Placed in the second pot of AFC qualification draw thanks to the latest FIFA rankings, India draws itself an easy route to AFC Asian Cup 2019

An easy draw awaited India in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers beginning from March as they were clubbed alongside Macau, Myanmar and Kyrgyz Republic in Group A. Macau are the lowest ranked side in the draw at 184^th according to the latest FIFA ranking. Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar are at 124^th and 159^th ranks respectively while the blue tigers sit at 129^th.

The qualifying tournament will be competed among 24 teams who are divided into six groups of four teams. After each team play each other out in their respective group in a home-and-away format. The winners and runners-up from each group — a total of 12 teams — will qualify for the final competition of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

They will be joined by the other Top 12 teams — Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts UAE —qualified to the final competition through the 2018 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup 2019 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2.

Also Read: Four ISL Indian players without a club in I league

India stands quite a good chance of making in to the Asian main event after 6 years. Last time it was in 2011 when the Indian National team played after the gap of 28 years. India’s best finish at the Asian level has been the runners-up position in the third edition of the competition 53 years ago by Chuni Goswami and co.

National coach Stephen Constantine, who was an invitee at the draw even, said, “Though there are no easy games for us, the target is to win our home games and qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.” He added, “Now that the I-League has begun, any player can make his claim for a call to the camp with his performance. We will be selecting 30 players for the camp in March and previous records are not a guarantee for an automatic all up to the camp.”

India’s Matches:

March 28, 2017: India vs. Myanmar (Away),

June 13, 2017: India vs. Kyrgyz Republic (at Home),

September 5, 2017: India vs. Macau (Away),

October 10, 2017: India vs. Macau (at Home),

November 14, 2017: India vs. Myanmar (at Home),

March 27, 2018: India vs. Kyrgyz Republic (Away)