Top 3 East Bengal foreign players that can shine in AFC Champions League Two

East Bengal qualifies for the AFC Champions League Two after a decade.

On 13th August 2026, East Bengal FC, the defending champions of the Indian Super League (ISL), qualified for the AFC Champions League Two for the upcoming 2026-27 season, by defeating Kuwaiti side Al-Arabi by a score line of 4-1.

After their qualification, The Torchbearers were placed in Pot 4 and then drawn into Group D alongside Al-Hussein SC (Jordan), Al-Shorta (Iraq) and Al-Seeb (Oman).

East Bengal FC are all set to start their 2026-27 campaign for the Continental Club Competition on 16th September, with their first match being against 3 time successive Jordanian Pro League winners Al-Hussein FC in Amman, Jordan.

In this article we will take a look at the profiles of the top 3 foreign players from East Bengal FC that can shine in the AFC Champions League Two.

Dani Ramírez – Attacking Midfielder

Dani Ramírez is a 34 year old Spanish Midfielder who is a product of La Fabrica (Real Madrid CF academy), and has played professional football for over a decade.

Dani has been part of many clubs over the course of his career, playing for teams like Valencia CF B, Getafe CF B in Spain, LKS Lodz & Lech Poznan in Poland, and has also played in the Belgian first division and the Turkish first division, before making his move to India, to play for Punjab FC in the 2025-26 season.

In his 17 matches with the ISL Team Punjab FC, the Spaniard managed to get 5 goals, all while providing 3 assists as well. Dani is known for his skills and on-the-ball abilities. He is able to create chances from out of nowhere and has made many key passes that were not converted in the final third of the pitch.

Dani signed for East Bengal in the first week of July and has already made 6 appearances in the Durand Cup for the team. In those 6 matches, he was able to score once and providing 2 assists. Though he has not yet been able to showcase himself to the best of his abilities, the Continental Club Tournament could prove to be the exact stage The Spaniard has been searching for.

Mohammed Rashid – Defensive Midfielder

Mohammed Rashid is 31 year old Palestinian International playing for East Bengal FC. Rashid is currently the captain for the Indian Champions and has been with the team since 2025.

He has vast experience in Asia as has played in countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and most recently, India. Rashid has scored on 5 occasions and provided an assist on 4 since joining East Bengal.

Rashid is known to be the player who gives it his all on the pitch. Despite playing defensively for a good chunk of the game, he will often times be the player who has covered the most distance on the pitch. He is amazing at reading plays, understanding the defensive shifts and transitions of the opponent team and creates many chances during a game.

He can prove to be one of the most important players for East Bengal in the Continental Tournament, as he has prior experience with Indonesian club Bali United FC, with whom he played 6 matches in the AFC Champions League 2, managing to get 2 goals and 1 assist in the 2023-24 season.

Chris Ikonomidis – Right Winger

Chris Ikonomidis is a 31 year old Australian International, who has been one of East Bengal FC’s newest signings for the 2026-27 season.

He joins the Red & Gold Brigade carrying experience of multiple different 1st division teams and many Continental tournaments including the UEFA Europa League & the AFC Champions League. Chris used to be a part of the Atalanta youth team, before moving to S.S. Lazio, where he would be sent for multiple loan spells to other clubs in Italy. After a couple of years without being able to break into the first team at Lazio, Chris would move back to Australia to play for Perth Glory.

It would be with Perth Glory that Chris would find his best, as he would go onto win the A-League Title in his very first season, while being awarded the A-League Young Footballer of the Year award. Chris would later move to Melbourne Victory, where he would have a hard time scoring goals, as he would only be able to score 5 times out of the 70+ appearances he would make. Prior to joining East Bengal, he would spent 2 season with Macarthur FC where he would make 10 goal contributions in 35 appearances for the team.

In his first 2 games with East Bengal, Chris has already provided 2 assists in both matches that he played. Despite being injured for East Bengal’s upcoming match against Al-Hussein on 16th September, Chris should be fit to play for the rest of the matches in the tournament. His experience in the competition itself would be of big help to The Torchbearers, as they would want to have their campaign backed with great results.

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