Indian football continues to rise as they qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup for the second consecutive time. India’s qualification was confirmed as they finished at the top of their group in the final qualification process.
The final qualification round contained 24 teams battling out for 11 spots in the competition. The six group winners alongside the five best runners-up in the final qualification process qualified for the next year’s mega event.
India finished as the group D leader ahead of the likes of Hong Kong, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. Indian football captain, Sunil Chetri led India to a 4-0 win against Hong Kong in the final group game to finish at the top of the table.
While Indian football continues to ascend, Pakistan football is in a completely opposite state. The Pakistan Football Federation has been banned by FIFA for well over a year. The men’s national team last played an international football match over three years ago and it is still not confirmed when they will be allowed to reintegrate into international football.
Elsewhere, Palestine defeated the Philippines 4-0 in the AFC qualification encounter which confirmed their place in the competition as well.
Here are the 24 qualified teams for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup:
| Japan | Australia | China | Lebanon | Thailand | Bahrain |
| Syria | Iran | Iraq | Palestine | Hong Kong | Malaysia |
| Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Oman | Uzbekistan | Tajikistan | Jordan |
| South Korea | UAE | Vietnam | India | Kyrgyzstan | Indonesia |
