India to play Qatar, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam in AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers

New Delhi, May 29 (PTI) The India U-23 men's national team was on Thursday drawn in Group H of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers and will play against hosts Qatar, Bahrain, and Brunei Darussalam.

The draw was conducted at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

Qatar, the highest-seeded team among the four, will host Group H, with the matches slated to be played between September 1 to 9.

A total of 44 teams were divided into 11 groups of four each. The group winners and the four best runners-up, alongside hosts Saudi Arabia, will complete the cast of 16 teams for the seventh edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup, which will take place in January 2026.

The seedings for the draw were based on a points system derived from the teams' final rankings across the previous three editions of the tournament. India were placed in Pot 3.

India had earlier appointed Naushad Moosa as the head coach of their U-23 national team.

Moosa takes charge from June 1, when the Blue Colts assemble in Kolkata for a training camp, before flying off to Tajikistan to play two exposure matches against Tajikistan (June 18) and Kyrgyz Republic (June 21).

The India U-23s will utilise all the FIFA international windows to set camp and play exposure friendlies to prepare for the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said.

AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers draw: Group A: Jordan (Hosts), Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, Bhutan Group B: Japan, Kuwait, Myanmar (H), Afghanistan Group C: Vietnam (H), Yemen, Singapore, Bangladesh Group D: Australia, China (H), Timor-Leste, Northern Mariana Islands Group E: Uzbekistan, Palestine, Kyrgyz Republic (H), Sri Lanka Group F: Thailand (H), Malaysia, Lebanon, Mongolia Group G: Iraq, Cambodia (H), Oman, Pakistan Group H: Qatar (H), Bahrain, India, Brunei Darussalam Group I: United Arab Emirates (H), IR Iran, Hong Kong China, Guam Group J: Korea Republic, Indonesia (H), Laos, Macau Group K: Tajikistan, Syria, Philippines, Nepal. PTI AH AH UNG