Indian football team qualifies for AFC Asian Cup for second successive time

New Delhi: Indian football team have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Finals before their final qualifying match in Group D of the third-round stage on Tuesday after Palestine defeated the Philippines 4-0 in the qualifiers.

India will take Hong Kong in their final qualifier here at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata. This is the second consecutive time and fifth time in the history of the continental competition that India has qualified.

China was scheduled to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2023 across ten cities from June 16 to July 16 but the country gave up the hosting rights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both India and Hong Kong are on six points each from matches, with Hong Kong enjoying a superior goal difference of plus four in comparison to India’s plus three. India is eyeing an all-out win as hosts and playing in front of a packed stadium in Kolkata to top the group D.

India won 2-0 against Cambodia in their first qualifying match last week. In their next match, they defeated Afghanistan 2-1 in a thrilling match where Captain Sunil Chhetri and Abdul Samad scored. Chhetri has been in fine form as he has scored three goals for India in the tournament so far.

India has scored four goals in total in two matches and three out of these four goals are scored by Sunil Chhetri.