The Indian men’s football team qualified for the Asian Cup final after defeating Palestine in a Group B match in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday (June 14). The result meant that the Palestinians qualified directly to the group toppers for the 24-team final, while the second-placed Philippines, with four points, were eliminated despite a second-place finish. Only the winners of the six qualifying groups are certain to advance to the tournament, where they will be joined by the five best second-placed teams in the respective groups.
India, who are second behind Hong Kong (six points) on goal difference, have qualified ahead of their final round Group D clash. This is the first time India have qualified for the Asian Cup in two successive editions, having been knocked out of the group league in the 2019 edition.
here we come
As Palestine beat Philippines in the group, #BlueTigers have now secured back-to-back qualification for the @afcasiancup #ACQ2023 #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball. [?] pic.twitter.com/3aNjymWLSm – Indian football team (@IndianFootball) June 14, 2022
Overall, India has qualified for the continental showpiece for the fifth time – in 1964, 1984, 2011, 2019 and now in 2023. Captain Sunil Chhetri had insisted that qualifying for the Asian Cup final should be the minimum for India if they want to continue to compete with the best in Asia and improve continuously.
“We have already talked about it, the minimum target for us to qualify for the Asia Cup so that we can go and walk side by side with the best in Asia. I guess I am not trying to be too hard on myself but we need to play Asia Cup in every edition so that we can assess how much we are improving as well as play the best Asian teams. Opportunity is also available. Chhetri told Star Sports after playing a key role in India’s victory over Afghanistan.
China was to host the AFC Asian Cup in 10 cities from June 16 to July 16 in 2023, but the country gave up hosting rights due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AFC said it would announce new hosts in the coming months.
(with PTI input)