The Indian men’s football team is back in action on Thursday (7 Sep), with a tough clash against Iraq to commence their 49th King’s Cup 2023 campaign in Chiang-Mai, Thailand from 7-10 September. This will be the biggest test for the Indian team, as Iraq are much higher ranked (70) team. Both these team will next take part in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), which will begin from 12th October, 2023.
Stimac’s side have won three trophies already in 2023 — the Tri-Nation tournament in Imphal in March, the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar in June, and the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru in July, this result brought them back into top 100 in the FIFA Ranking.
The biggest worry of Stimac’s side is unavailability of Sunil Chettri, who has requested to be left out due to personal reason with three striker option- Manvir Singh, Rahul KP and Rahim Ali, of which only Manvir and Rahim are the traditional strikers, have been named in the King’s Cup’s squad. In head to head clash India have never defeated Iraq, in six previous meetings Iraq have beaten India five times while one time both have played draw. The last meeting between the two sides was a friendly in Sharjah before the 2011 Asian Cup, which Iraq won 2-0.
King’s Cup is a Knockout Tournament with winners of the opening matches on Thursday, progressing to the final played on Sunday and the losers competing in the third place playoff (Loser of 1st SF and 2nd SF), on same day. This year’s King Cup will consists of host Thailand (113), Lebanon (100), Iraq (70) and India (99). Tajikistan(110) were the champions of the 2022 King’s Cup held in Thailand.
As per the format of the King Cup 2023, all games will be held in 700th Anniversary Stadium, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Both Semi-Finals (India vs Iraq and Thailand vs Lebanon) will be played on same day (7 September) with third- place playoff and Finals to be taken placed on 10th September, 2023.
