The Indian men’s football team will be in action as they will be taking on 70th-ranked Iraq in the semi-final of the King’s Cup 2023 tournament on Thursday.

The King’s Cup is Thailand’s annual international football tournament that has been running since 1968 with the 49th edition all set to be conducted in a knockout format, between September 7 to 10.

The winners of the semi-finals will play the final on September 10. Meanwhile, the two losing semi-finalists will face each other in the third-place playoff.

The Indian team will be making their fourth appearance in the tournament, having last featured in 2019 when they fell short against Curacao in the semi-final before beating Thailand 1-0 in the third-place playoff.

Igor Stimac's India will be without the service of talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri who is unavailable due to personal reasons.

The Blue Tigers were last seen in action in the SAFF Championship final against Kuwait in July where they won 5-4 on penalties to claim the title and will soon be in a major assignment in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, from September 23.

Here's all you need to know about King's Cup 2023:

 

When will King's Cup 2023 start?

The King's Cup 2023 will start on Thursday, September, and will run till Sunday, September 10.

 

Where will King's Cup 2023 be played?

All games of the 2023 King’s Cup will be played at the  700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

 

Teams participating: Thailand, Iraq, India and Lebanon

Format: The final match won't have any extra time and will decide the winners by a direct penalty shootout if the score remains tied at the end of 90 minutes

 

India’s squad


Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh.

Defenders: Asish Rai, Nikhil Poojary, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Mehtab Singh, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Subhasish Bose.

Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Brandon Fernandes, Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Rohit Kumar, Ashique Kuruniyan, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte.

Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Rahul KP.

Head coach: Igor Stimac.

 

Fixtures and Timings

September 7, Thursday – Iraq vs India (4:00 PM)

September 7, Thursday – Lebanon vs Thailand (7:00 PM)

September 10, Sunday – Third place play-off (4:00 PM)

September 10, Sunday – Final (7:00 PM)

 

Live streaming details: The live streaming of the King’s Cup 2023 will be available on FIFA Plus TV and will be telecast live on the Eurosport TV channel in India.