The record-holding five-time champions India, the hosts of the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026, started the tournament with a dominant 13-0 victory against Bangladesh, who are playing in the tournament for the second time. Before that game, Malaysia and Japan claimed tight victories.
The tournament started with the Malaysia vs China match, which Malaysia won by 5-4. After Abu Kamal Azrai from Malaysia scored the first goal of the tournament in the fourth minute, China got a 2-1 lead in the 12th minute with goals from Yaqi Wang (11’) and Moda Ne (12’). In the 14th minute, Malaysia regained the lead (3-2) with the back-to-back goals by Azrai and Akhimullah Anuar.
After Benhai Chen (27’) leveled the scoreline for China, Faizal Saari (34’) and Azimuddin Kamaruddin (35’) put Malaysia 5-3 ahead in the third quarter. While Chen (44’) netted once again just before the end of the third quarter, the one-time Asian Games silver medalists failed to secure another equaliser.
In the second game, Japan beat South Korea by 3-2. Kentaro Fukuda (14’) scored the first goal of the match for Japan, while South Korea equalised in the next minute with the goal of Han Sang-jun. Later, Ryoma Ooka (36’) and Kazumasa Matsumoto (52’) put Japan 3-1 ahead, and Jeong Jun-seong’s late goal (59’) wasn’t enough for South Korea.
Mandeep Singh scored hat-trick; 3 Indians added braces
In the third game of the day, India outclassed Bangladesh, who replaced withdrawn-team Pakistan, by 13-0. Mandeep Singh recorded a hat-trick (3’, 10’, and 54’), while Harmanpreet Singh (2’ and 44’), Dilpreet Singh (43’ and 44’), and Hardik Singh (60’ and 60’) scored braces. Further, Shilanand Lakra (15’), Abhishek Nain (18’), Nilakanta Sharma (26’), and Jugraj Singh (46’) scored one goal each.
Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026: Round 1 Match Results
Malaysia 5-4 China
Japan 3-2 South Korea
India 13-0 Bangladesh
Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026: Points Table After Round 1
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goal Difference | Points |
India | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +13 | 3 |
Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
South Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
Bangladesh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -13 | 0 |