India were handed a tough draw after being grouped alongside hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Thailand in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on Friday. At the draw ceremony held at the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the four nations were clubbed in Group A of the six groups for the 17^th edition of the competition.

India will open their campaign against Thailand on January 6 at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi before playing UAE on January 10 and wrapping up their group stage engagements against Bahrain on January 14.

“The AFC Asian Cup is an enormous opportunity for us and we are looking forward to it. Back home in India, everyone is excited, and we have the blessings of all the people and we will do our best,” Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri said at the draw ceremony. Chhetri was one of the draw assistants on Friday. UAE are ranked 81 and are the only team with a better FIFA Ranking than India in Group A. Thailand are placed 122 and Bahrain occupy the 116^th spot.

However, if history is anything to go by, India is in for a tricky ride. They have faced two of their three 2019 opponents in previous Asian Cup appearances. The Blue Tigers were beaten 0-2 by UAE in 1984, while Bahrain beat them 2-5 in the 2011 edition. While they might not have lined up against Thailand before at the Asian Cup, their head-to-head against the Changsuek (the War Elephants) reads: Played 21, Won 4, Loss 11, Draw 6.

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup will be the biggest one till date with a total of 24 teams vying for the coveted crown. The teams have been divided into six groups of four each with the top two sides after the group engagements moving on to the Round of 16 with the best four third-placed teams joining them.

India, coached by Englishman Stephen Constantine, had topped their group consisting of the Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar and Macau in the third-round qualification to earn an entry into the draw from Pot 3. Being the hosts, UAE were automatically drawn into Group A. Thailand and Bahrain were drawn from Pots 2 and 4 respectively. The Blue Tigers have been on a fine run of form winning all their ties in the qualifying campaign to secure a place in the continent’s flagship event before losing out to Kyrgyz Republic in their final qualifying game in March this year.

While India will once again be looking up to their inspirational skipper Chhetri to lead them, their opponents also boast of a handful of top players in the Asian circuit, including the 2016 AFC Player of the Year Mohamed Abdulrahman, who will be hoping to turn up for the hosts.

All probabilities aside, history beckons as India make their way to UAE for their fourth appearance at the AFC Asian Cup. However, what matters from now until January is how much of quality football the team can put in through tournaments and friendlies.