India has officially submitted its bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2031, joining a record number of contenders for Asia’s top men’s national football tournament. The announcement came during the AFC Executive Committee meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, where AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa confirmed that a total of seven bids—including one joint bid—had been received.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) submitted its proposal before the March 31, 2025 deadline, following the AFC’s invitation to Member Associations (MAs) on November 27, 2024. India is now part of a competitive pool of bidders that includes Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and a joint bid from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Shaikh Salman praised the exceptional level of interest, highlighting the growing prestige of the tournament. He credited the success of the 2023 edition in Qatar, which achieved 7.9 billion digital impressions and was broadcast across 160 countries, as a key factor in attracting so many bids.
The AFC will now begin the next phase of the bidding process, which includes documentation reviews and an upcoming workshop for the interested nations later this month. The final decision on the host country will be made during the AFC Congress in 2026.
If India’s bid is successful, it would mark the first time the country hosts the AFC Asian Cup, a historic achievement that would boost Indian football and enhance its reputation as an emerging sports destination in Asia. Hosting the tournament would also align with India’s broader ambitions to stage major international sporting events in the coming years.
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