India will begin their 2023 AFC Asian Cup campaign on Saturday, facing Group B opponents Australia at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar. Igor Stimac’s side have been placed in a tough group, consisting of heavyweights Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria.
Against Australia, they are up against a side which left Lionel Messi impressed during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. So it will be a huge task for India, when they kick-off their campaign.
This will be India’s fifth AFC Asian Cup appearance, having previously qualified in 1964, 1984, 2011 and 2019.
In their first Asian Cup appearance in 1964, India gained a direct entry to the finals of the tournament after several teams pulled out due to political reasons. Coached by Harry Wright, it was also India’s best finish in the tournament. It was played in a round-robin format and was won by hosts Israel, and had only four participants, one from each zone. India got second place, with wins over South Korea and Hong Kong. Inder Singh was the team’s top scorer with two goals.
Then they once again qualified for the finals after 20 years in 1984, but it was a disaster. They were placed in Group B alongside China, Iran, UAE and hosts Singapore. India lost three matches and held Iran to a goalless draw, and only registered a point.
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was India’s third appearance. They qualified after winning the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. India were placed in Group C, and lost all their group matches. Australia thrashed them 4-0 in the opener and then lost 2-5 to Bahrain in their next match. In their final group match, they crashed to a 1-4 defeat vs South Korea.
Eight years later, India once again qualified, this time for the 2019 Asian Cup. Under head coach Stephen Constantine, they began their campaign with a 4-1 win against Thailand. But then crashed to narrow defeats to UAE (0-2) and Bahrain (0-1) which saw them get eliminated.
Facing Australia, India will need to set the record straight this time, but will need to play at their highest level. Speaking to Hindustan Times, winger Lallianzuala Chhangte said, “It’s not an easy group by any means, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria are all good teams, especially the first two. But it’s the Asian Cup, if you want to play at this level, you need to be prepared to face the best opponents in the continent. We are training hard, and we will play hard and give it our best in the three matches in the group stage, and then see where we stand. For sure, we want to qualify for the knockout rounds.”