The two South Asian nations, Maldives and Bangladesh, have started the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on Wednesday with defeats.

Maldives, in Group C, lost their first match 3-0 to Thailand. Maldives will play its second match in Group C against Uzbekistan on Saturday. Sri Lanka, another South Asian nation in Group C, is scheduled to play Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

Similarly, Bangladesh in Group E lost its first match to Bahrain 2-0. Bangladesh is also the host nation of Group E. Apart from Bahrain and Bangladesh, Turkmenistan and Malaysia are also in Group E. Bangladesh will play their next match against Turkmenistan on Saturday.

Afghanistan, in Group D, lost 2-1 to Hong Kong. Apart from these two teams, the hosts India and Cambodia are in this group. India is scheduled to play Cambodia in another match on Wednesday.