The Indian senior men’s team will face Iraq in the semi-final of the 49th King’s Cup football tournament in Chiang Mai, Thailand on September 7. The match will take place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai. Thailand will take on Lebanon in the other semi-final later on the same day, as per the draw announced by the Football Association of Thailand on Wednesday. The finall of the tournament will be played on September 10. The losing semi-finalists will meet in the third-place play-off.
As per the draw mechanics, Iraq (as the highest FIFA-ranked team – 70th) and Thailand (as hosts and ranked 113th) were placed in separate match-ups, and drawn against the remaining two teams — India, ranked 99th, and Lebanon, ranked 100th.
India’s last meeting with Iraq was a 0-2 defeat in a friendly in Baghdad in 2010.
It will be India’s fourth participation in the King’s Cup in Thailand, with the most recent one coming in 2019, where the Blue Tigers went down to Curaçao in the semi-final before beating hosts Thailand 1-0 for the bronze medal. India also won a bronze in their first appearance in the tournament in 1977, defeating the likes of South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia.
In 1981, India were eliminated in the group stage.
King’s Cup Fixtures: Iraq vs India (4pm IST); Thailand vs Lebanon (7pm IST) on September 7.
Third-place play-off (4pm IST); Final (7pm IST) on September 10.
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