Campaign Kick-off: India faces China in opening battle

Indian football team will kick start their Asian Games campaign in the opener match against the host China on Tuesday. The Asian Games is scheduled to start from September 23 but the football event will begin from September 19. The men’s football event at the Asian Games starts on September 19 and will run till October 7. Since 2002, the men’s football event at the Asian Games has been an under-23 affair, with each team allowed a maximum of three players above 23 years of age.
There are 23 teams participating in the men’s event, where they have been divided into five groups of four teams each and one group of three teams. The Indian men’s football team is in Group A with hosts China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams across all groups will advance to the round of 16. The Republic of Korea are the defending champions and the most successful nation in men’s football at the Asian Games with five titles. Iran are second with four gold medals. The women’s football competition at the Asian Games 2023, meanwhile, will kick off on September 21. Unlike the men’s event, the women’s football competition at the Asian Games is played by senior teams. A total of 16 women’s football teams have been divided into five groups. While two groups have three teams each, two groups consist of four teams each. Group C has only two teams – North Korea and Singapore – after Cambodia pulled out. The Indian women’s football team is in Group B with Chinese Taipei and Thailand.
Barring group C, where Singapore and North Korea will face each other twice and all the other groups will follow a single-legged round robin format. After all the group-stage matches are done, the winners of groups A, B, D and E qualify for the quarter-finals. The four best teams among the runner-ups from groups A, B, D and E and the Group C winner will make up the remaining four teams in the final eight.