East Bengal to begin AFC Women’s Champions League prelims at Likas Stadium on August 17, 2026
East Bengal FC will open their AFC Women’s Champions League preliminary round against Rajshahi Stars at Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on August 17, 2026, the club having been confirmed as India’s reigning champions. The Moshal Girls head into the preliminary stage aiming to reach the AWCL group phase for a second consecutive year.
Drawn into Group A, East Bengal will meet 2025–26 Bangladesh Women’s Football League champions Rajshahi Stars, the 2025 Malaysia National Women’s League champions (who will have home advantage), and the 2026 Women’s G League champions, Rovers from Guam. The preliminary stage uses single-legged matches with only one qualification spot available from the group, and East Bengal are described as favourites to top Group A.
Squad availability is a concern for East Bengal: Fazila Ikwaput and Resty Nanziri will be absent due to visa issues, Abena Opoku is unavailable for the opener as she is with the Ghana national team, and Soumya Guguloth is recovering from a knee injury and not fully fit. These absences reduce selection options for the Moshal Girls ahead of the Bangladesh tie.
Rajshahi Stars will also face selection disruption, with Bangladeshi international Ritu Porna Chakma set to miss the next game after encountering problems obtaining her International Transfer Certificate from the Myanmar Women’s Football League. That administrative issue has been confirmed as affecting Rajshahi’s squad for the preliminary stage.
East Bengal made their AWCL debut last season and finished third in their group, one place and one point behind second-placed Nasaf from Uzbekistan. In that maiden campaign they opened with a 3-1 win over Iran’s Bam Khatoon—goals came from Fazila Ikwaput, Resty Nanziri and Hemam—before suffering consecutive defeats to Nasaf and Wuhan Jiangda.
East Bengal’s preliminary-stage opponents are listed as Rajshahi Stars, Rovers FC and Sabbah FA for the AWCL Preliminary Stage. Live streaming for East Bengal’s 2026-27 preliminary-stage matches will be available on FanCode; there will be no live telecast of AWCL matches on any TV channel in India, leaving FanCode’s digital platform as the broadcast option for viewers.
East Bengal’s first match in Kota Kinabalu against Rajshahi Stars is scheduled for August 17, 2026 at Likas Stadium. For further updates the article directs readers to follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, to download the Khel Now Android or iOS app, and to join its communities on WhatsApp and Telegram; the piece is authored by Saikat, who has covered the Durand Cup, Indian Super League and Hockey India League and has interviewed Olympic 2024 gold medalist Yibbi Jansen and former Real Madrid player Javi Hernandez.
