East Bengal FC drawn with Hwacheon KSPO, Ho Chi Minh City WFC in Kuala Lumpur; Kolkata to host Group B Nov 1-7

AFC Women’s Champions League 2026-27: East Bengal FC drawn with Hwacheon KSPO, Ho Chi Minh City, April 25 SC

Kolkata will host East Bengal’s Group B fixtures from November 1 to 7, marking the first time the competition will be played in India.

India’s East Bengal were drawn with the Republic of Korea’s Hwacheon KSPO WFC, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City WFC and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s April 25 Sports Club in Group B of the AFC Women’s Champions League 2026-27 .

The group stage draw for the third edition of the competition took place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on Thursday.

Organised by the Asian Football Confederation, the AFC Women’s Champions League is the continent’s premier club football tournament.

Indian Women’s League champions East Bengal qualified for the AWCL main draw for a second successive season after topping the preliminary-stage Group A, finishing ahead of Sabah FC (Malaysia), Rajshahi Stars (Bangladesh) and Rovers FC (Guam).

Kolkata will host the Group B fixtures from November 1 to 7, marking the first time the AFC Women’s Champions League will be played in India.

The upcoming edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League will see 12 teams compete across three groups of four each in a centralised league format.

AFC Women’s Champions League 2026-27 group stage draw

Group A : Naegohyang FC (PRK), INAC Kobe Leonessa (JPN), Bam Khatoon FC (IRN), Ayeyawady FC (MYA)

Group B : Hwacheon KSPO WFC (KOR), Ho Chi Minh City (VIE), East Bengal (IND), 4.25 SC (PRK)

Group C : Melbourne City FC (AUS), Beijing Jingtan FC (CHN), Kaya FC-Iloilo (PHI), PFC Nasaf (UZB)

Following the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the two best-ranked third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage.

The quarter-final matchups will be determined by a separate draw in December, with the ties scheduled to be played in March next year. The three group winners and the best-ranked runner-up will host the quarter-finals.

East Bengal had also qualified for the AFC Women’s Champions League main draw last season and became the first Indian football club to win a group stage match in the competition.

The Moshal Girls will aim to qualify for the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League for the first time.

Picture by All India Football Federation

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