King's Cup 2023 Schedule: India will face Iraq in the semifinal

The Indian senior men's football team will participate in the 49th King's Cup 2023 to be held in Thailand from September 7-10, 2023. Thailand, Iraq and Lebanon are the other three teams in the four-nation tournament, which will be held in a knockout format. The semi-finals will take place on 7 September, with the third-place match and the final on 10 September.

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Meanwhile, India will face Iraq in the King's Cup 2023 semifinal. India's last meeting with Iraq was a 0-2 defeat in a friendly in Baghdad in 2010. While Thailand will take on Lebanon in the other semifinal later on the same day. It was announced after the draw ceremony by the Football Association of Thailand on Wednesday. The match will take place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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.

Igor Štimac's team last featured in the King's Cup in 2019, where they finished third. After losing 1–3 to Curaçao in the semi-finals, the Blue Tigers defeated Thailand 1–0 to win the bronze medal. It will be India's fourth appearance in the King's Cup 2023 in Thailand. India also won bronze in its first appearance in the tournament in 1977, defeating the likes of South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia. In 1981, India was eliminated in the group stage.

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King's Cup 2023 Schedule:

• September 7, 2023- India vs Iraq (16:00 IST)
• September 7, 2023- Thailand vs Lebanon (19:00 IST)
• September 10, 2023- Third-place play-off (16:00 IST)
• September 10, 2023- Final (19:00 IST)