AFC Asian Cup 2023: India’s fixtures, schedule, squad, telecast and more

India are undoubtedly the underdogs in AFC Asian Cup’s group B.

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qatar, will be the 18th edition of Asia’s biggest and most prestigious football tournament. The tournament involves 24 teams, who have been divided into six groups of four each. 

For the very first time, India have qualified for the continental event two times in a row, and despite being placed in a pretty challenging group, Igor Stimac’s men are determined to beat the odds, and qualify for the next round of the tournament. 

The Blue Tigers come off the back of a pretty illustrious year for the national team, as they gained nationwide appreciation, and displayed splendid performances against tough nations.

Teams 

Group B 

Australia

Uzbekistan

Syria

India

Format

The 24 participating nations have all been divided into six groups of four teams each, where they will compete in a single round robin format. 

Upon the completion of all group games, the top two teams from the group will make it to the knockouts, whereas the best four among the third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. 

Thereon, the teams will play in a series of single-legged knockout games, that will ultimately lead to the showdown for the continent’s most prestigious football title.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they are playing each other in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

Venue

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be played across five different cities, which include a total of nine stadiums, among which there is the Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.

Among the other stadiums, are Al Bayt Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Education City Stadium, Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium and Al Janoub Stadium.

Telecast 

The AFC Asian Cup matches will be telecast live on Sports18 Network. Live streaming of the AFC Asian Cup will be available on the JioCinema app and website.

India’s fixtures at the 2023 Asian Cup

Date	Fixture	Time (IST)
January 13	Australia 2-0 India – Report	5:00 pm
January 18	India 0-3 Uzbekistan – Report	8:00 pm
January 23	Syria 1-0 India – Report	5:00 pm

AFC Asian Cup 2023 Indian men’s football team – full squad

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith

Defenders: Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose

Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Deepak Tangri, Lalengmawia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Udanta Singh

Forwards: Ishan Pandita, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Manvir Singh, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Sunil Chhetri, Vikram Partap Singh

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