AFC confirms India’s bid to host 2031 Asian Cup

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Wednesday confirmed India’s bid to host the Asian Cup in 2031, having listed the country among the six bidding member nations for the continental showpiece.

The United Arab Emirates Football Association had withdrawn from the bidding process.

India will compete with Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait and there is also a joint bid from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“The bidding process for the AFC Asian Cup 2031 was completed last year and attracted strong interest from across the continent.

“Subsequently, and in line with the AFC President’s forward-looking approach, invitations to bid for the 2035 edition were circulated to MAs (member associations) on August 27, 2025, with the submission window closing on December 31, 2025,” the AFC said in a statement.

Last year the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had submitted the country’s ‘Expression of Interest (EoI)’ to host the 2031 edition of the continent’s most prestigious tournament.

Soon after the submission, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya extended the government’s full support to India’s bid for the tournament, saying hosting major events would only boost the global stature of the country which is aiming to stage the 2036 Olympics.

India has never hosted the tournament. It had submitted bids to host the 2023 and 2027 editions when Praful Patel was the AIFF president.

The bid for the 2023 edition was withdrawn in 2018 and the same happened in case of the 2027 tournament also.

In December 2022, a few months after incumbent Kalyan Chaubey took charge as AIFF president, India withdrew its bid to stage the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, declaring that hosting big-ticket events is not among its “strategic priorities” at that juncture.

The AIFF’s decision had left Saudi Arabia as the lone candidate to host the 2027 Asian Cup.

Meanwhile, the AFC said Australia, Japan, Korea, and Kuwait have formally expressed their interest in hosting the Asian Cup in 2035.

The AFC will next engage with the respective bidding member associations to coordinate the submission of the required bidding documentation, in accordance with the established timelines, regulations and evaluation processes.