Three Teams on Six Points: India Top on Goal Difference After Asian Champions Trophy Day 2
Two days in, and the Asian Champions Trophy has split clean in half. Three teams on six points. Three teams on zero. And Friday will start sorting out which half is real.
India lead the table on goal difference, plus 16, after beating China 5-2 on Thursday night to follow the 13-0 demolition of Bangladesh. Malaysia are second, also on six, after their 3-1 win over South Korea earlier on Thursday. Japan are third, also on six, after grinding out a 1-0 win over Bangladesh. Same points, very different goal differences: Malaysia plus three, Japan plus two. That’s the gap between first and third right now, and it’s entirely about how many goals India have scored. Eighteen in two games. Nobody else is close.
Thirty-nine goals have gone in across the six games so far, six and a half a game. Harmanpreet Singh leads the scoring with four, Mandeep Singh has three, and eight players sit on two goals each, including three Malaysians. The tournament has been generous to attackers and cruel to defences, apart from Japan, who have conceded just two goals in two games and look the most organised side in Jalandhar.
Down at the bottom, the picture is stark. South Korea have lost twice, 3-2 to Japan and 3-1 to Malaysia, and they’ve scored in both games without ever looking in control. China have lost twice too, 5-4 to Malaysia and 5-2 to India, and they’ve conceded ten. Bangladesh have lost twice, scored nothing, conceded 14. Four teams go through to the semi-finals from six, so the maths still works for all three, but the margin is gone. Friday’s Korea v China game, at 4:15pm PKT, is the one that decides who keeps a realistic chance and who starts needing favours.
Friday’s card is the best of the tournament so far. Bangladesh play Malaysia at 2:00pm PKT, a game Malaysia will expect to win and win well. Then Korea against China. Then the night game: Japan against India at 6:30pm PKT, unbeaten against unbeaten, top spot on the line. A draw keeps India top on goal difference. A Japan win puts Japan top outright. Saturday is a rest day, and the league stage runs to 2 November before the semi-finals in Mohali on 4 November and the medal matches on 5 November.
For our money, India are still the team to beat, but Japan are the team nobody should sleep on. They’ve won a thriller and they’ve ground out a 1-0 already. If they keep India quiet on Friday, this tournament gets very interesting, very quickly.
Related links:
- https://sportscursor.com/act-thursday-full-card-malaysia-korea-bangladesh-japan-india-china-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/act-friday-full-card-bangladesh-malaysia-korea-china-japan-india-30-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/india-v-china-asian-champions-trophy-thursday-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/live/
- https://sportscursor.com/latest-news/
