AFC Asian Cup 2023: The height disadvantage for Indian football team at the tournament

The Indian football team’s average height is the fourth lowest in the AFC Asian Cup 2023, which starts on 12 January in Qatar and will put the Blue Tigers at a physical disadvantage against some of the best teams in Asia in the continent’s biggest international football event. India’s campaign will start on 13 January with a match against world No 25 Australia. The 102nd-ranked side will also take on Uzbekistan (68) and Syria (91) in the group stage. All three teams are going to have a significant advantage over India as far as the average height of the sides is concerned. While the average height of the Indian team is 177.35cm, it stands at 182.38cm for Australia, 180cm for Uzbekistan and 179.35cm for Syria. Australia are fifth tallest side in the tournament. Iran with an average height of 183.81cm lead the charts followed by China (183.19cm), Iraq (182.73) and South Korea (182.54). Vietnam has the lowest average height among all teams at 175.38cm. The other two teams in a pool of 24 to have lower average height than India are UAE (177) and Thailand (176.31). The tallest player in the tournament is Australia’s Harry Souttar at 200cm and the shortest player is Oman midfielder Jameel Al-Yahmadi (156cm). For India, Mumbai City’s Lallianzuala Chhangte and Bengaluru FC’s Suresh Singh Wabgjam are the shortest players at 166cm while the tallest is Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (197). Gurpreet is also the tallest goalkeeper in the tournament. The tallest outfield player in India is Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s Manvir Singh. India’s average weight is 71.85 kg which is the fourth joint-lowest in the tournament. The category is also dominated by Iran (79.35 kg) followed by Australia (79.27) and Iraq (78.23). Syria averages ninth highest at 75.69 kg and Uzbekistan (74.19) are at 17th. The only teams behind India are Tajikistan (71.85 kg), Vietnam (71.69 kg), UAE (70.92 kg) and Thailand (69.62 kg).