India likely to start Asian Cup Qualifiers prep on March 14 after Manolo Marquez meeting with AIFF
India likely to start Asian Cup Qualifiers prep on March 14 after Manolo Marquez meeting with AIFF
The Indian men’s national football team could start its preparatory camp for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers on March 14, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Sunday.
Manolo Márquez, the Blue Tigers’ head coach, was in the capital on December 5 and 6 and held a series of meetings at the Football House on India’s preparations for the qualifiers.
“For two days, I had fruitful meetings with the AIFF President, senior officials and technical members of the AIFF. I am sure with the kind of preparations we have planned, the National Team will do well in the Asian Cup qualifiers,” the India and FC Goa coach said.
The Spaniard has given a proposal to the AIFF to hold a longer camp to prepare for the matches, after which the body’s top brass, after consulting with its marketing partners, hinted at a date two days after the final league-stage match of the Indian Super League.
“The qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup is our main target. The AIFF will do everything as per the plan submitted by the head coach,” AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said.
On Monday, December 9, the draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Final Round will be held at 12:30 pm IST. India is placed in Pot 1 for the draw, which will split 24 teams into six groups of four each.
The matches will be held in a round-robin format on a home-and-away basis from March 2025 to March 2026. As per the schedule, India, as a Pot 1 team, will play its first match on March 25, 2024, at home against a Pot 4 team.
Marquez also held discussions with the Technical Committee members, the AIFF Technical Director Syed Sabir Pasha and members of the AIFF scouting team.
