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India participated at the AFC Cup for the first time in 1964, which was their most successful campaign yet as they finished runners-up.
Their next appearance was in 1984, where India put up a poor show, losing three matches and drawing one to finish at the bottom of their group in the first round.
The Blue Tigers then managed to qualify for Asia's most prestigious footballing event in 2011 thanks to their exploits in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which they ultimately won defeating Tajikistan 4-1.
Now, the Stephen Constantine side will be gearing up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. An unbeaten streak of 13 games was crucial for making it here.
The recently concluded draw of the AFC Asian Cup, which took place at Burj Khalifa in Dubai, saw India taking berth alongside UAE, Thailand, and Bahrain in Group A.
India are no strangers to these three teams. In fact, till date, India has played 41 matches against these three sides combined, the maximum being against Thailand (23). Let's look at the head-to-head results against these opponents:
#1 India vs UAE:
Played - 13, UAE won - 8, India won - 2, Draws - 3
#2 India vs Thailand:
Played - 23, Thailand won - 11, India won - 5, Draws - 7
#3 India vs Bahrain:
Played - 5, Bahrain won - 4, India won - 0, Draws - 1
If we are to sum it up, India have won just seven matches out of 41, translating to merely 17.1% wins against these three teams.
If we look at the present Rankings, however, it paints a completely different picture: India (FIFA Rank - 97), UAE (FIFA Rank - 81), Thailand (FIFA Rank - 122), Bahrain (FIFA Rank - 116).
Being so close in the Ranking means that there will be ferocious battles in this group as all the teams are extremely capable sides in their own ways.
