AFC Asian Cup 2023: How can India still qualify for last-16 stage?

Indian football team has suffered two defeats in as many matches in AFC Asian Cup 2023 and are last in their four-team Group B with zero points. World No. 25 Australia lead the table with six points after two wins over India and Syria. Uzbekistan who humbled India 3-0 are second in the group with four points. They were held to a goalless draw by Syria in their opener. That was the only point Syria have and are third in the group after second round of matches. Apart from Uzbekistan mauling, India had gone down 2-0 against the Socceroos. The next and final round of group matches will see India play Syria on 23 January , while Australia face Uzbekistan. With Australia and Uzbekistan on six and four points respectively, India have no chance to finish in the top-two. As per the AFC Asian Cup 2023 format, top two teams from the six groups will automatically qualify for the Round of 16. The remaining four sides will come from the best third-placed teams. So, India need to finish third to stand a chance in the tournament. However, even a win will not guarantee a place in the last-16. We take a look at how India can qualify for AFC Asian Cup 2023 last-16: India must beat Syria: With the bottom two teams in Group B facing each other in the final group game, it’s direct fight for the third-place finish. Syria already have one point so India playing out a draw in their final group game and collecting a point will not help them as Syria will move to two points. Sunil Chhetri-led India have no option but to win the game to finish in the third place in the group ahead of Syria. Will that be enough? No. Just finishing third does not guarantee progress as not all third-placed sides will qualify for last-16. The qualification will depend on how other third-place teams perform and ones with most points will progress to last 16. This will only become clear after all group matches are over. As things stand, all matches in Group A have been played with China third on two points. Palestine, in Group C, have 1 point. Indonesia and Japan, in Group D, have 3 points to stand level but are separated by goal difference. Bahrain, in Group E, are third with 3 poitns. Oman, in Group F, have 1 point. So India need to beat Syria to go up to 3 points and then hope Palestine, Hong Kong play out a draw against each other to remain on less than 3 points from Group C. Japan and Indonesia will clash in the final game in Group D and India need a result either way to stand a chance. Group E is wide open with Jordan and South Korea on 4 points, Bahrain on 3 points. In the last fixture, Korea face Malaysia and Jordan take on Bahrain. In Group F, Thailand and Oman can still swap places if Oman beat Kyrgyz Republic by a considerable margin and Thailand go down to already-qualified Saudi Arabia. For India, a lot of matches need to go right if they are to progress. Although, everything starts with a win for the Blue Tigers against Syria.