The Indian men’s national football team are all set to begin their SAFF Championship 2023 with the first match against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 21, check out the full schedule, groups, format, and more
The Indian men’s national football team is placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Kuwait, and Nepal.
SAFF Championship 2023 schedule, date, time table, fixtures, teams, groups, format, host country
Exciting times ahead for @IndianFootball ⚽️🇮🇳
India is hosting the @SAFF Championship in June 2023 at Bengaluru.
We’re looking at 20+ competitive international games for India before knocking at the door of @AFC Asian Cup 2024 pic.twitter.com/V6QIFmU6og
— Kalyan Chaubey (@kalyanchaubey) May 17, 2023
SAFF Championship 2023 Group Stage DRAW ✅
Nepal is drawn alongside India, Kuwait and Pakistan in Group A.https://t.co/JqE4nXKG9a pic.twitter.com/yD0HxxqVj5
— Bhakundo.np (@BhakundoNepal) May 17, 2023
The Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru will be the venue for all the matches in the upcoming SAFF Championship 2023.
Going into the competition, India are the defending SAFF champions, having won the tournament back in 2021.
Team India are also the most successful team in the tournament, so far having won the title eight times (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2021).
SAFF Championship 2023 groups
Given below are the groups in the SAFF Championship 2023 groups:
Group | Teams |
Group A | India, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakistan |
Group B | Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh |
Although Lebanon and Kuwait are not being SAFF nations, both teams will participating in the event following special invitations. Lebanon with a rank of 99 will be the highest-ranked team in the competition followed by India at 101. The other teams rank as follows: Kuwait (143), Nepal (174), Pakistan (195), Maldives (154), Bhutan (185), and Bangladesh (192).
SAFF Championship 2023 format
The SAFF Championship 2023 begin on June 21, with the opening match between Kuwait and Nepal from Group A. Following which India will play their opener against Pakistan later the same day. After the end of the single round-robin matches, the top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals. The semi-finals will begin on July 1, with the final scheduled for July 4.
SAFF Championship 2023 schedule for Indian national football team
The Indian national football team managed by Igor Stimac recently won the Tri-Nation Cup in Imphal, Manipur back in March. Prior to the SAFF, the team will play in the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar from June 9 to 18. Following the SAFF Championship, Sunil Chhetri and co will also compete in the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia and then the King’s Cup in Thailand later this year.
Given below is the schedule for the Indian football team in the upcoming SAFF Championship 2023 with all timings in Indian Standard Times (IST):
Date | Fixture | Time |
June 21, Wednesday | India vs Pakistan | 7:30 PM |
June 24, Saturday | India vs Nepal | 7:30 PM |
June 27, Tuesday | India vs Kuwait | 7:30 PM |