Asian Games (Football): Groups revealed for India men's, women's team

The Asian Games 2023 will kick off in September in Hangzhou, China.

The Indian National U-23 Men’s and U-23 Women’s Football teams were involved in the draw for the Asian Games 2023 football category on Thursday, July 27. Igor Stimac’s side was arguably placed in a relatively easier group, with the Women being placed with two higher-ranked sides for the upcoming competition.

Which group have the Indian National Men’s Team been placed in?

The Blue Colts have been placed in Group A in the Men’s Football category for the 2023 Asian Games. They are accompanied by hosts China, Bangladesh and Myanmar in what should be a relatively encouraging group for them.

Of course, India will be playing their U-23 team in the competition due to the competition’s rules and only three senior players can feature in it. But India should be encouraged by the fact that their group contains two teams (Myanmar and Bangladesh) who are ranked way lower than them in the latest FIFA Men’s Football rankings.

Even though the U-23 teams will play in this, India has had impressive records against both Myanmar and Bangladesh in recent years. Last year, India U-20 thrashed Bangladesh U-20 in a 5-2 margin to win the SAFF U-20 Championship in a dominant fashion.

India’s senior team defeated Myanmar in the Tri-Nation Tournament in March, in which many youngsters featured. Even though they can’t take any opposition lightly because all the teams will bring their best, the Indian side can at least fancy their chances of making it out of their group - even though they’ll face a tough challenge against China – who both have home advantage and are also ranked higher.

Challenging group for Indian Women’s Team

Unlike their male counterparts, the Indian National Women’s team have been placed in a relatively challenging group, which consists of only three teams (including them). They will be facing off against the Thailand U-23 Women’s team as well as Chinese Taipei.

Both these teams are actually ranked higher than India in the FIFA World Rankings for the Women’s National teams. Thailand are ranked in 44, while Chinese Taipei are ranked in 37. The Chinese Taipei National Women’s team are the sixth-highest-ranked team in the AFC in the latest world rankings, with Thailand in the seventh position.

Chinese Taipei won 67 medals in the 2018 Asian Games, while Thailand bagged 11. With that being said, neither of these two teams have ever won a medal in the football category during their participation in the Asian Games in history.

The Indian side should have some talented women footballers, but they’ll have to perform at optimum levels to cause an upset over the higher-ranked countries.

The format

When it comes to the format of the Men’s and Women’s Football categories, it is almost the same despite the difference in participation. In the Men’s category, 23 teams have been divided into six groups, with only Group D having three teams.

After the group stages, the top two teams from each group will directly qualify for the Round of 16 alongside the four best third-placed teams among all groups. After that, a knock-based format will start – with the Round of 16 followed by the Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, bronze medal match and gold medal match.

When it comes to the Women’s football format, there is a slight change. As there are only 17 participating teams, there will be no Round of 16. The top team from each group will make it to the Quarter-finals along with the three best second-placed teams among all groups. From the quarters, there will be a knockout-based format – going to the semi-finals, bronze medal match and gold medal match.

A week ago, it seemed like India will not feature in the football category. But after this draw, not only will both the teams play, but they have a genuine chance at making it well into the knockout rounds and even have an outside chance of bagging a medal in the Asian Games – which starts in September 2023.