I-League champions Dempo's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals of the AFC Cup suffered a set back after they drew 1-1 against Home United of Singapore in the first leg of the quarter-final in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Mohun Bagan's horrendous run in the AFC Cup continued with a 0-6 humiliation at the hands Al Kuwait in a Group D league match in Kuwait City.
India brightened its chances of qualifying for the AFC Under-16 football championship by beating Lebanon 3-0 at Dammam in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
While there is no imminent threat to the AFC Asian Cup participation by the senior men's team in late 2023 or early 2024, some of the games slated for clubs and age-group national teams in the next few months could well be a tricky terrain.
Tajikistan beat North Korea 1-0 to set up a final against hosts India in the AFC Challenge Cup.
East Bengal started their AFC Cup campaign with a 0-1 loss to Lebanon's Safa Sporting Club.
I-League champions Dempo Sports Club began their AFC Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Yemen's Al Tilal in Pune on Tuesday. Dempo scored through Brazilian midfielder Roberto Mendes Silva (53rd minute) and Nigerian striker Ranti Martins Soleye (67th minute), while Al Tilal striker Tafese Tesfaye pulled one back in the 75th minute of the Group A encounter.
Neymar's involvement in matches on Indian turf is eagerly anticipated, though exact dates remain pending the final match schedule release.
Poor defending dashed Dempo's hopes of becoming the first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC Cup after they were demolished 1-4 by Lebanon's Safa FC in the return leg semi-final tie to go down 1-5 on aggregate in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The Goan club had lost 0-1 in the first leg in Beirut.
It also showed that a side placed 102nd in the FIFA World Rankings can thwart a team placed 77 places above them. And India did keep the mighty Aussies out for 50 minutes before a fatal error saw the Blue Tigers punished after all the good work.
The national football team is currently ranked 18th in Asia and the sports ministry's rule states that in team sport, only those in top-eight will get the nod.
Images from the Premier League matches played on Thursday
India thrashed Bhutan 4-0 in their last Group C match to finish second behind Iraq and qualify for the AFC Under-16 Football Championship in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Talismanic Nigerian Edeh Chidi scored a hat-trick and set up a couple more goals as East Bengal thrashed Yangon United of Myanmar 5-1 to enter the AFC Cup quarter-finals for the second time after 2004.
Mahindra United is placed in Group E along with Maldivian outfit New Radiant, Singapore Armed Forces FC and Happy Valley from Hong Kong.
India gave title contenders Uzbekistan a mighty scare before going down fighting 2-3 in their opening match of the AFC U-16 Football Championship in Tehran on Sunday.
It took note of the fact that India is due to host the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup from October 11.
AFC secretary-general Peter Vellappan slammed the Goa club, saying teams that do not follow professional principles should not form part of the National League.
Indian women's team began their AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers round one campaign on a winning note as they defeated Bangladesh 1-0 in their opening match at Melaka in Malaysia on Sunday.
Gurjinder Singh and Adil Khan are the two new faces in India's 23-member football squad, announced by national coach Savio Medeira, for the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup, which begins in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 9.
Arsenal claimed their first Premier League win at Everton for six years as Leandro Trossard's second-half strike proved enough to secure the points at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Gokulam Kerala FC players, who were to participate in the AFC Women's club championships, are stranded at Tashkent following AIFF's suspension by FIFA on Monday.
Jeje Lalpekhlua (9th minute), Kean Lewis (74th) and Bikramjit Singh (80th) scored for Mohun Bagan while Seminlen Doungel (52nd) found the target for Bengaluru FC in the Group E match.
East Bengal slumped to their fourth straight defeat in the AFC Cup after a 1-4 drubbing at the hands of Al Qadsia in their away match in Kuwait City.
The 1-1 draw gave India its first point in the competition after five defeats in Group 'A'.
India need nothing more than a win against a tricky Syria to keep alive their faint hopes of making the knockout stage.
Federation Cup champions East Bengal suffered their second consecutive defeat in the AFC Cup after going down 0-3 to formidable Lebanese side Al Nejmeh in a lop-sided football match in Beirut.
Bengaluru FC conceded two late goals in dramatic fashion as they lost 0-2 to 10-man Abahani Limited Dhaka of Bangladesh in their AFC Cup group match in Dhaka.
The AIFF has sent the video tapes of the controversial Santosh Trophy quarterfinal match between Manipur and Goa to AFC.
Indian football Coach Savio Medeira is hoping that his boys will not repeat the past mistakes when they take on Philippines in the AFC Challenge Cup, in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Despite fielding their reserve team, East Bengal dominated the proceedings to hammer Balestier Khalsa FC 3-0 for their first win this season in the the AFC Cup football tournament
Mancini slams Saudi players who opted to leave Asian Cup squad
Three Lebanese football officials have been charged with receiving sexual bribes to fix an AFC Cup match in Singapore, a government law-enforcement agency of the island city-state said on Thursday.
A missed penalty from midfielder Marcos Pereira in the first half proved expensive as Federation Cup champions Mohun Bagan went down 0-1 to Al Karama in the opening Group D encounter of the AFC Cup at the Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Asian Football Confederation is not aware of any suspicion linking Lebanon's World Cup qualifiers to the country's matchfixing scandal but has requested a full report, the regional body said on Thursday.
In a clinical display by the Indian football team, the colts got off to a winning start in the AFC U-19 Qualifiers, beating 10-man Turkmenistan 3-1 at the Takhti Stadium in Tehran, Iran on Monday.
The 20-year-old was the fourth Indian woman footballer to sign for an overseas club when she landed a multi-year contract with Cypriot top division winners Apollon Ladies.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'I have always believed in building a 'team for the future'. Eventually, in a few years, these guys will represent India National Team. My eventual goal is to unearth some talents who'll be ready for the senior national team'
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