India started its campaign with mixed results on the opening day of the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023 at the Boulevard Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The Indian duo of Charanjot Singh and Saransh Jain started the day with a 1-2 loss to Germany but made a comeback in the second game against South Africa.
However, India failed to gain momentum after the victory as Sweden, the fourth-best team in the competition thrashed India 3-0 while the match that followed ended in a 0-6 rout to Israel.
The last match of the day, India vs Peru, gave some ground to cover for the eTigers with Kylian Mbapppe (virtual) scoring the equaliser for India after an early lead by Peru.
India will play its opponents in the same order on the second day, looking for a comeback, starting with Germany at 10:30 IST.
Group D standings after Day 1:
Match 5 Updates: India defends very wellllll in the second half to hold Peru to a 1-1 draw and remains fifth in teh standings with four points on Day 1 of the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023.
Group D Results after Match 5:
The match is 1-1 at half-time.
India, however, makes a great comeback, late in the second half, getting a goal to get all square.
India is trailing again in a third match in a row. Peru has scored an early goal, with the scoreline 1-0 to the the Peruvians at the moment.
Group D Standings at the moment:
Match 4 Update: Israel thrashed India 6-0 to go to the top of Group D at the moment.
Match 3 Updates:
However, the change ended up being ineffective, leading to India’s second loss of the night.
India has changed its formation to a 4-1-2-1-2 to look for answers against a side that is currently the fourth-best side in the world.
Sweden continues to cruise forward with his third goal now as India gives away the third goal cheaply. The scoreline clearly indicates the uphill battle India has at hand now.
Sweden, finds its second goal to double its lead. The Scandinavian side is the only team ranked above India is the FIFAe Rankings.
What are the current FIFAe Rankings?
Here are the top 10 FIFAe nations before the FIFAe Nations Cup finals:
- Brazil – 1647.41
- Poland – 1249.74
- Argentina – 1056.87
- Sweden – 1026.96
- Italy – 1004.85
- India – 992.97
- Portugal – 977.44
- France – 973.01
- Canada – 964.62
- Singapore – 950.83
India, in red, plays from left to right while Sweden, in yellow, starts from the other end. Sweden, however, gets its noses in front with an early goal from a step-over boost and eTigers are behind just like the first game. It remains to be seen if India can make a comeback.
Game 3: India vs Sweden in the next few minutes.
Virtual players available for Team Sweden:
Group D standings after India’s win over South Africa:
Game 2 results:
FIFAe Nations Cup live updates: India beats South Africa 1-0
India registers its first win in the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023 with a 1-0 win over South Africa. This gives the eTigers their first points in this edition of the tournament.
India gets a penalty and the eTigers get ahead, putting the ball at the back of the net from the spot.
Substitution for South Africa
Second half begins and Zaidapril fails to punish India, missing a key chance and the player looks very frustrated and India heaves a sigh of relief to see the scores still level. In another Group D match, Israel and Sweden are both locked at 0-0 as well.
At the half-way mark against South Africa, the score remains level at 0-0.
Game 2, India vs South Africa begins with Team India starts in red and will look to take an aggressive approach, after suffering a loss in the opener against Germany.
Game 2: India vs South Africa set to kick-off in a few minutes
Virtual players available to Team South Africa:
Team South Africa: India’s next opponent
Group standings after Game 1:
Group D standings after Game 1: India at bottom after the loss in opening game.
Game 1: India loses 1-2 to Germany
However, Germany finds the net again and the recent FIFAe Club World Cup champion Umut shows his class to combine for the leading goal as the eTigers are on the backseat again.
Germany had scored early on in the game and, with Sweden and South level at the moment, India looked to be on the backseat. But India scored an equaliser and has snatched a point so far.
Team info for both players:
Virtual Players available for Team India:
Virtual Players available for Team Germany:
India is set to face Germany in its opening match in the FIFAe Nations Cup. The match is scheduled for a 10:30 pm IST kick-off.
Support from the stands: India will have one of the biggest supporters in Lokmanyu Chaturvedi, the live streamer tonight for the Indian Football YouTube channel. Lokmanyu is one of the most popular names in the FIFAe circuit in the country and he has played for the Kerala Blasters in the eISL.
He was the coach for the eTigers in the last edition of the Indian team, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The FIFAe Nations Cup, having started in 2021, is the pinnacle event for countries in the FIFA esports ecosystem, wherein 24 nations compete for the coveted trophy. France won the inaugural edition in 2021 while Brazil secured the title last year.
This is India’s second appearance in the FIFAe Nations Cup. In its maiden appearance, in 2022, India made a group stage exit, following losses to Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Mexico and Morocco.
But it had made a strong comeback in 2023. It began its FIFAe Nations Series journey in December 2022, in the Play-Ins stage, progressing then to the layoffs after making its way through the Online Qualifiers Main Stage in April.
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The Indian esports team (FIFAe) in placed in Group D with Israel, South Africa, Peru, Germany and Sweden. It is represented by the Charanjot Singh, Saransh Jain and Sakshan Sakky Rattan, with Siddh Chandarana as the coach in the summit clash.
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