The 2025 CAFA Nations Cup will be the second edition of the tournament organised by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) cohosted by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from August 29 to September 8. India has been announced as the guest team, featuring in Group B with Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The participant nations of Group A are Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Oman. Iran won the first edition of the CAFA Nations Cup in 2023.

Different ground and environmental conditions, battle against teams with players of strong built-up, new national coach of Indian origin (Khalid Jamil) with fresh strategy – altogether it’s obviously going to be an exciting international exposure for the Blue Tigers. Hope, the boys would perform well and hold our tricolour high. India will take on host nation Tajikistan tomorrow (Aug 29), while the inaugural match will be between Afghanistan and defending champion Iran. This time, the Indian squad have no members from Mohun Bagan though. Let’s have a quick look at the full squad and the group stage fixtures (as per IST) of Group B.

Meme courtesy: AIFF official page