The Indian football team will start its preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers with a national camp beginning on March 14. This camp will commence two days after the final league match of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season.
Head coach Manolo Marquez, who has been leading the team since taking over from Igor Stimac, proposed the idea of a longer training camp during a meeting with All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey. Despite not securing a win in his first four matches as coach, Marquez expressed optimism about the team’s readiness.
Extremely pleased and thrilled to make an official announcement that India will be bidding to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 along with four other bidders including Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.@IndianFootball @theafcdotcom @KirenRijiju @IndiaSports #asiancup2027 pic.twitter.com/t0ZhOO6CRV
— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) December 16, 2020
The AIFF confirmed the camp schedule in a statement, saying, “After consulting with its marketing partners, the AIFF has decided to start the national camp on March 14.”
Coach Marquez is confident about the team’s prospects. “I had productive meetings with the AIFF President, senior officials, and technical members. With the preparations we are planning, I believe the team will perform well in the Asian Cup qualifiers,” he said.
The draw for the final round of qualifiers will take place on Monday at 12:30 PM Indian time, marking a key moment in India’s journey to the prestigious tournament.