East Bengal’s route to AFC Champions League Two knockouts after 2-3 loss to Al-Shorta
East Bengal FC lost 2-3 to Al-Shorta at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday, 13 October, 2026, suffering their first defeat of the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two campaign. The result left East Bengal third in Group D with one point from two matches.
East Bengal drew their opening group game with Al-Hussein and currently have one point from two matchweeks. Under the ACL Two group format, the top two teams from each group progress to the Round of 16. With four group matches remaining, East Bengal can still reach the knockouts; if they win all four remaining games their maximum possible points total is 13. Antonio Habas faces the task of reversing form across those fixtures, two of which will be played at home.
Young striker David Lalhlansanga twice gave East Bengal the lead in the first half against Al-Shorta, but the Kolkata side were unable to hold on and conceded three goals to lose 2-3. That defeat was East Bengal’s first of the ACL Two campaign and interrupted an expected opportunity to add crucial points at home.
Al-Hussein moved up to second place in the group after their recent win over Al-Seeb, leaving a three-point gap between them and East Bengal. That positioning makes the upcoming head-to-head permutations between East Bengal, Al-Hussein, Al-Shorta and Al-Seeb decisive for the second qualifying spot in Group D.
East Bengal face Al-Seeb in their next two scheduled group games, beginning with an away trip to Oman on 27 October 2026, and will host Al-Hussein at the Salt Lake Stadium on 24 November 2026. If East Bengal win both matches against Al-Seeb they would apply pressure on Al-Hussein; a run of wins including a victory over Al-Hussein would move East Bengal into a stronger position for qualification. Winning their next three matches, for example, would lift East Bengal to 10 points from five matches.
Several point combinations can still deliver second place: if East Bengal take four points from their fixtures against Al-Seeb and Al-Hussein win one of their two matches against Al-Shorta, East Bengal would enter their meeting with Al-Hussein one point behind. In that scenario East Bengal would need to beat the Jordan club to go two points clear before facing Al-Shorta away and would then require at least a result against Al-Shorta plus Al-Hussein dropping points to secure progression.
Practically, East Bengal’s simplest path is to win at least two of their four remaining group games and to take at least one point from matches against Al-Shorta and Al-Hussein to remain in contention for the second qualifying place. Their next confirmed fixture is away to Al-Seeb on 27 October 2026.