East Bengal FC drawn with Al Hussein SC, Al Shorta SC and Al Seeb in Group D, Kuala Lumpur; first group-stage since 2015

AFC Champions League Two 2026-27: East Bengal drawn with Al Hussein, Al Shorta and Al Seeb in Group D

The Red and Gold Brigade will play each of their three opponents home and away in the group stage. The top two teams from each group will progress to the round of 16.

Indian football club East Bengal FC were placed alongside Jordan’s Al Hussein SC, Iraq’s Al Shorta SC and Oman’s Al Seeb Club in Group D of the AFC Champions League Two 2026-27 following the draw in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday.

The Red and Gold Brigade qualified for the group stage of Asia’s second-tier men’s club competition after completing a dramatic comeback to beat Kuwait’s Al Arabi SC 4-1 after extra time in their preliminary-stage tie in Kolkata last week.

East Bengal, who qualified for the preliminary stage after winning the Indian Super League 2025-26 title, trailed Al Arabi following Anayo Iwuala’s 76th-minute penalty before Jay Gupta equalised in the 90th minute to force extra time.

Mohammed Rashid then put East Bengal ahead in the extra time before substitutes David Hmar and Rohit Danu completed the turnaround.

The Kolkata club will now face Al Hussein, the 2025-26 Jordanian Pro League champions, Al Shorta, runners-up in the 2025-26 Iraq Stars League, and 2025-26 Oman Professional League champions Al Seeb in Group D.

It will be East Bengal’s ninth appearance in the group stage of Asia’s second-tier men’s club competition and their first since 2015, when the tournament was known as the AFC Cup.

A total of 32 teams - 16 each from the West and East Zones - will compete in the AFC Champions League Two group stage. They have been divided into eight groups of four teams each.

Each team will play the other three sides in their group twice - once at home and once away - with the top two from each group advancing to the round of 16.

The group stage will run from September 15 to December 9. The round of 16 is scheduled for February 9-18, 2027, followed by the quarter-finals from March 2-11 and the semi-finals from April 6-14. The final will be played on May 15.

Picture by East Bengal FC

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