India has officially submitted its Expression of Interest (EoI) to host the 2031 AFC Asian Cup, marking another bold step by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to bring top-tier international football to the country.
AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan confirmed the development, saying, “Yes, we have submitted the EoI to host the 2031 AFC Asian Cup. Let us see how it goes.”
India is among seven nations that submitted bids before the March 31 deadline. The list includes football heavyweights Australia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, along with Indonesia, Kuwait, and a joint bid from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Of these, Australia, UAE, South Korea, and Kuwait have previously hosted the tournament, making the competition for hosting rights intense.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which opened the bidding process on November 27, 2024, received what President Shaikh Salman called the “highest ever number of Expressions of Interest in modern history”, highlighting the tournament’s growing global significance.
“The unprecedented level of interest we have witnessed reflects both the high ambitions of the AFC’s Member Associations and their increasing confidence in their own capabilities to host such a significant tournament,” Salman said during the AFC Executive Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the 35th AFC Congress.
The next step in the selection process will include a bidding workshop later this month. Participating nations will then submit detailed bid documentation, followed by an extensive evaluation by the AFC. The final host will be selected by the AFC Congress in 2026.
If selected, India will automatically qualify for the 24-team tournament. Historically, India’s best performance came in 1964 when they finished as runners-up. Since then, the team has struggled in the group stages — bowing out early in the 1984, 2011, 2019, and 2023 editions.
India has never hosted the AFC Asian Cup. Previous attempts to bring the tournament to Indian soil — for the 2023 and 2027 editions — were withdrawn. The 2027 bid was pulled in December 2022, shortly after Kalyan Chaubey took over as AIFF President, citing that hosting major events was not a strategic priority at the time.
That decision cleared the way for Saudi Arabia to become the sole host of the 2027 tournament.
With the current EoI for 2031, India is once again in contention to stage Asia’s premier men’s football competition, reflecting renewed ambition to grow the sport domestically and on the continental stage.
