Translated with AI
The Indian national football team will take part in the CAFA Cup for the first time. The Indians will replace the Malaysian team, which refused to participate in the tournament, Fergana.ru reports.
The Indian team will play in Group B, where its opponents will be the national teams of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
For the Indians, the tournament will serve as preparation for the autumn matches of the 2027 Asian Cup qualification.
It should be noted that the Indian national team currently does not have a head coach. His name will be announced by the end of July. One of the candidates is the former coach of the national team of Kyrgyzstan, Slovak specialist Stefan Tarkovic.
Earlier, the Russian and Malaysian national teams refused to participate in the tournament. Moreover, the Malaysians announced this after the group round draw. According to head coach Peter Klamovsky, he did not have the opportunity to staff the team with the necessary players, and going to the tournament with a weakened squad is not advisable.
The CAFA Cup will be held for the second time in history. The tournament will feature 8 teams — 6 CAFA members (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran), as well as the national teams of Oman and India. The teams are divided into two groups. Group A matches will be held in Uzbekistan, Group B — in Tajikistan. The group winners will meet in the final. The teams that take second place will play for bronze. The current trophy holder is the Iranian national team.
