New Delhi: The India national football team will play its final match of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers against Hong Kong national football team in Kochi on March 31. The match will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, marking the return of international football to the venue after nearly a decade.
Although both teams have already been eliminated from the race to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, the fixture still holds importance. With valuable FIFA ranking points at stake, the Indian side will look to finish its qualifying campaign with a positive result.
The match will also mark the third different home venue used by India during the final round of the qualifiers. Earlier matches were played in Shillong, which hosted the encounter against Bangladesh national football team in March last year, and Margao, where India faced Singapore national football team in October.
For fans in Kerala, the upcoming match will be a special occasion as it will be the first time in ten years that the Blue Tigers play at the Kochi venue. The last time the Indian senior men’s team played there was in March 2016 when they faced Turkmenistan national football team in a qualifier for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Despite being a dead rubber in terms of qualification, the match is expected to attract strong support from local fans as India aims to conclude the campaign on a winning note.
