Should India Qualify Easily for the AFC Asian Cup?

by Chittu Shetty June 3, 2025

The Indian men’s national football team recently maintained an unbeaten record against Bangladesh on home soil, drawing 0-0 in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualification match on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

The question being asked here is, should India progress past the group stage and qualify easily for the AFC Asian Cup? Let’s dive straight in to find out.

Can India qualify for the AFC Asian Cup?

India are in group C of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers along with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore. As it stands, all four teams have just 1 point after just one game played because they have all drawn their matches. Hong Kong and Singapore drew 0-0 in their fixture.

Bangladesh are currently ranked #185 on the official FIFA World Rankings. Hong Kong [China] are presently ranked at #155. Singapore is currently ranked at #160, and India are currently ranked at #126. In other words, India should win their qualifying group as they are the better-ranked team.

However, you could also say that the four teams are fairly evenly matched and that it won’t be an easy group for India to win. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

The quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to find out if India can win their group is to see what the iGaming industry’s most trusted online bookmakers are saying.

For example, if you live in South Africa, check out ZA sports betting with 10bet. On this site, you will find that India are the current odds-on favourite to win their group.

As it stands, the average odds for group C of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers outright winner look like this:

• Bet type: AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group C outright winner. Team: India. Odds: 1/4 (fractional), 1.25 (decimal), -400 (American/moneyline). Implied probability rate: 80.00%
• Bet type: AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group C outright winner. Team: Hong Kong. Odds: 9/4 (fractional), 3.25 (decimal), +225 (American/moneyline). Implied probability rate: 30.80%
• Bet type: AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group C outright winner. Team: Singapore. Odds: 12/5 (fractional), 3.40 (decimal), +240 (American/moneyline). Implied probability rate: 29.40%
• Bet type: AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group C outright winner. Team: Bangladesh. Odds: 5/1 (fractional), 6.00 (decimal), +500 (American/moneyline). Implied probability rate: 16.70%

These odds are subject to change at any time and without prior warning. They are designed only to give you an idea of how the group might pan out.

Before betting on this competition on trusted sites like 10bet, always check the latest odds and try to gather as much other relevant news, data and statistics as possible to give your bets the best chance of winning.

Where and when is the next AFC Asian Cup?

The AFC Asian Cup is a quadrennial men’s international football competition. The next edition, the 2027 AFC Asian Cup (the 19th edition since the competition began), will be held at eight venues across three cities in Saudi Arabia from January 7 until February 5, 2027.

The biggest stadium, King Fahd Sports City Stadium, is a 70,200-capacity venue. Saudi Arabia received automatic qualification for the Asian Cup as the host. The current two-time defending champions are Qatar, who will also be looking to win their unprecedented third successive title.

Japan is the most successful AFC Asian Cup team, having won the competition on four separate occasions (1992, 2000, 2004, and 2011). This year’s host nation, Saudi Arabia, has won the AFC Asian Cup three times. Iran has also won three times.

Qatar and Israel have both won twice, and the only other teams to have won this competition at least once are Kuwait (1980), Australia (2015), and Iraq (2007).

Whether India can go on to win the tournament outright remains to be seen. If they progress past the group stage, there’s a good chance they can go on to win.

However, they will be the underdogs with the least favourable odds. Despite being the outsiders with the lowest chance of winning, don’t forget that anything can happen in football, and even the underdogs can sometimes upset the odds and beat the favourites.

You never know; stranger things have happened.

Final thoughts

India’s next AFC Asian Cup game is against Hong Kong (away) on June 10, 2025. They also play Singapore on October 9, again on October 14, Bangladesh on November 18, and Hong Kong on March 31, 2026.

On a final note, if you decide to place wagers on the upcoming AFC Asian Cup and live in South Africa, remember to stick to betting on legally permitted sites like 10Bet, which is fully licensed and regulated to offer online betting services to the South African market.

Gamble responsibly at all times and never treat sports betting as a job. You must be at least 18 years old to sign up to this trusted SA sportsbook and casino, and when claiming free bets and other generous bonuses, remember that the terms and conditions always apply.