East Bengal Draws Tough Opposition in AFC Challenge League Group Stage

East Bengal FC is set to face Nejmeh SC, Bashundhara Kings, and Paro FC in Group A of the 2024-25 AFC Challenge League. Matches will be hosted at Bhutan’s Changlimithang Stadium. East Bengal qualified after winning the 2024 Kalinga Super Cup and will return to a continental group stage for the first time since 2015.

East Bengal FC has been drawn into Group A of the 2024-25 AFC Challenge League, alongside Lebanon's Nejmeh SC, Bangladesh's Bashundhara Kings, and Bhutan's Paro FC. The draw was conducted at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday. Matches will span from October 26 to November 2 and will be held at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan.

East Bengal earned their place in the third tier of men's AFC club competitions by winning the 2024 Kalinga Super Cup. However, they lost 2-3 to Altyn Asyr FC in the AFC Champions League Two qualifying round on August 14 and thus moved to the AFC Challenge League. This will be their first group-stage appearance in a continental competition since the 2015 AFC Cup, their best showing being a semi-final run in 2013. Nejmeh SC, former AFC Cup runners-up in 2005, come into the group as the 2023-24 Lebanese Premier League champions.

Bangladesh's Bashundhara Kings enter the competition as the reigning champions of the Bangladesh Premier League, marking their fifth straight group-stage appearance in an AFC club competition. Paro FC, champions of the 2023 Bhutan Premier League, qualified after defeating Church Boys United from Nepal.

From the group stage, eight teams will advance: three group winners and the best-ranked runner-up from the West, alongside the top two finishers from each East group. The quarter-finals are slated for March 2025, with semi-finals in April and the final on May 10, 2025.

(With inputs from agencies.)