Kolkata: India have been placed in Group A of Division 1 along with hosts Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia for inaugural edition of FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026.
Group B comprises Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. All Division 1 group-stage matches will be played in Indonesia.
Division 2 will feature six teams, split across two groups – Hong Kong, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Timor Leste – with Hong Kong hosting all matches.
The ASEAN Cup was announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in 2025, aimed at boosting the development of football across the South-East Asian region.
The tournament was unveiled alongside a renewed five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FIFA and ASEAN, focusing on regional sports development, youth engagement, and infrastructure funding.
“The new agreement between FIFA and ASEAN will ensure that both organisations can help make a difference by using football as a vehicle that brings hope and joy to millions of children and young people across Southeast Asia,” Infantino said. “This partnership will help to drive positive football development, social progress and the promotion of healthy lifestyles all across the region.”
“FIFA is delighted to continue to show its support to the ASEAN community with the launch of the FIFA ASEAN Cup,” the FIFA President said. “This will be a great addition to the regional football calendar, it will be impactful not only in the region, but it will allow the best players in the ASEAN region to shine on the global stage. Through the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we are uniting countries together, and this competition will be a huge success as it will help boost national team football in the ASEAN region and will support the development of our sport across all of Southeast Asia.”
The FIFA-ASEAN MoU aims to use football to drive social development, education, and inclusivity while raising the professional and competitive standards of Southeast Asian football on the global stage.
It will take place in the International Friendly window of September 21 – October 6, 2026.
The ASEAN Cup will be conducted in tandem with the ongoing ASEAN Championship, which is held every two years since 1996. Thailand are the most successful side in the latter competition, having won the title seven times.
Indonesia is the only team from the region to appear at the FIFA World Cup, when it competed as the Dutch East Indies in 1938.
The competition brings together 14 teams split across two divisions. Division 1 comprises eight nations divided into two groups of four, while Division 2 features six teams split into two groups of three.
Group winners from each division will advance straight through to their respective finals, while the runners-up will face off in a third-place playoff, meaning there won’t be a semi-final stage at all, making every single group match critically important.
Division 1
Group A : Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore
Group B : Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines
Division 2
Group A : Hong Kong, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam
Group B : Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste.
With the FIFA ASEAN Cup kicking off and Infantino’s plans to increase the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, India gets the best shot at the tournament. However, former Indian football team skipper Baichung Bhutia said that only the tournament’s expansion will not help India qualify.
“India will have a better chance to qualify if they increase from 48 to 64 (teams),” Bhutia told PTI. “But that doesn’t mean that the country need not do any work. We still have to get our system, structure, grassroots development right and produce more players, bring more kids to football.”
