Intercontinental Cup: Who are India’s opponents in the three-nation tournament?

This will be the fourth edition of the Intercontinental Cup since the inaugural tournament in 2018, which was held in Mumbai.

File photo: Manolo Marquez has the versatile Anirudh Thapa at his disposal, whose experience will be invaluable. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K/The Hindu

The Indian men’s national football team is set to begin its chapter under head coach Manolo Marquez in the three-nation Intercontinental Cup being held at Hyderabad from September 3 to 9.

Marquez, who took charge of the Blue Tigers after Igor Stimac’s dismissal, has special memories in the city, as he had coached Hyderabad FC to the Indian Super League (ISL) title in the 2021-22 season.

However, Languishing at 124th in the official FIFA rankings and already out of contention for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, the Indian ship is in choppy waters.

Moreover, Marquez will be missing the services of veteran Sunil Chhetri, the former captain and India’s record goalscorer who announced his international retirement after being a part of the national setup for 20 years.

This will be the fourth edition of the Intercontinental Cup since the inaugural tournament in 2018, which was held in Mumbai. The other two editions were played in Ahmedabad (2019) and Bhubaneshwar (2023) with India emerging as champion in 2018 and 2023.

Take a look at who India will be facing in the Intercontinental Cup 2024:

SYRIA

Currently ranked 93rd in the FIFA rankings, Syria poses a threat that India is all too familiar with. The two nations most recently faced each other in the group stages of the AFC Asian Cup in January, where Omar Khribin scored the only goal of the match to give Syria the win, which helped it to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament

The two sides have met each other seven times in the past, with both India and Syria winning three games each. The only draw came when they last met in the Intercontinental Cup in 2019, where they played out a 1-1 draw.

India will face Syria in the Intercontinental Cup on September 9.

MAURITIUS

Mauritius will come into the tournament in high spirits after a win against Eswatini in the first round of the FIFA World Cup African qualifiers in June.

India and Mauritius have met each other only once in the past, in an international friendly in 2017, where India won 2-1, courtesy of goals from Robin Singh and Balwant Singh.

The Blue Tigers will take on 179th-ranked Mauritius in its opening game of the Intercontinental Cup on September 3.

Fixtures (Kick-off at 7:30 p.m. IST)

September 3: India vs Mauritius

September 6: Syria vs Mauritius

September 9: India vs Syria