Indian U23 Football Team set to travel to Malaysia without Mohun Bagan players

NorthEast United FC players will join the Indian U23 squad after the Durand Cup Final

Ahead of the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers in September, the Indian U23 Football team will be travelling to Malaysia to take on the Iraq U23 team in two friendlies scheduled on August 25th and 28th, 2025.

23 players will be travelling as part of the Indian squad, but no footballers from Mohun Bagan Super Giant will feature in the list. Players from NorthEast United FC are set to join the squad after their Durand Cup Final on August 23rd against Diamond Harbour FC.

However, AIFF are still trying to convince the ISL winner to release the players before the official FIFA window, which starts on 1st of September. With Mohun Bagan kicking off their ACL 2 matches on September 16 the club raised concerns over the fitness issues of players.

Also Read: AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers group draws revealed

Key players join the India U23 camp late

Head Coach Naushad Moosa had to start the camp in Bengaluru without 16 key players of the squad. A total of 16 players from Punjab FC, Jamshedpur, Mohun Bagan, NorthEast United, and FC Goa were unavailable as their clubs held them back for the Durand Cup and ACL 2.

From the squad that had played the friendlies in June against the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, only 10 players had reported to the camp. Moosa was forced to call upon 15 trialists to get the number to 25 for a full squad to start training.

Among the absentees were FC Goa’s Ayush Chhetri, Sanatomba Singh, and Alan Saji, who joined the squad right after Goa’s AFC Champions League 2 preliminary round tie against Al Seeb on August 13, 2025.

The 16 of the initial players who were unavailable for the camp were mostly players who would have walked straight into the playing XI or the match-day squad. Despite bringing in trialists, the absence of such players for the preparatory camp left Moosa worried.

Naushad Moosa’s dreams of making history by reaching the finals have now suffered a blow with a bunch of talented youngsters of Bagan, such as Suhail Bhat, Dippendu Biswas, and Tekcham Abhishek Singh likely to miss out. However, on the positive note, players from Punjab FC and even Jamshedpur FC have joined the squad.

Huge tasks await the Blue Colts

The Blue Colts have been placed in Group H in the qualifiers and will play Bahrain on September 3rd, Qatar on September 6th and Brunei on September 9th. Out of the 11 groups, 11 top-placed teams, along with 4 of the best second-placed teams, will make it to the Finals in Saudi Arabia in January 2026.

While the Qatar U23 is a regular feature in the continental competition, Bahrain have only made it to the finals once, while Brunei have never featured.

In their last three matches, the U23 outfit had lost 2-3 to Tajikistan, played out a goalless draw against Kyrgyzstan and succumbed to a 0-5 defeat to FC Goa. The Blue Colts have never made it to the AFC U23 Asian Cup in the past.

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