When is India’s next match in AFC Asian Cup 2023?

The Blue Tigers have a do-or-die situation facing them in the upcoming game.

Indian men’s national football team will now take the field against Syria in their next 2023 AFC Asian Cup fixture on Tuesday, 23 January 2024 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. Igor Stimac’s men sit in the bottom place of Group B with zero points after losing their matches against Australia and Uzbekistan.

Syria have one point, courtesy of their draw with Uzbekistan and will aim to secure a win to have a chance of qualifying into the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams. They lost to Australia recently in their second Group B match. Going forward, they will back themselves to add more misery to the Indian team which is reeling from a disappointing 3-0 loss to Uzbekistan.

As for India, winning the last match of their group becomes imperative to have a slight outside chance of making it into the Round of 16. The pressure is on the Blue Tigers to punch above their weight and deliver some relief to the travelling Indian fans.

A must-win contest

Indian football team earned a lot of praise for their defensive performance in their 2-0 loss to tournament favourites Australia. However, in complete contrast to their performance against the Socceroos, the Blue Tigers looked frail defensively against Uzbekistan. 

Indian players looked second-best in almost all departments and succumbed to a 3-0 defeat which puts them out of contention for one of the top two automatic qualifying spots from Group B. Their only hope is to cause an upset, beat Syria, and hope that they can move into the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams from the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stages.

Experienced players like Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu must lead by example and Igor Stimac needs to get his team selection spot on to have a chance to beat Syria in their last group fixture of the tournament. 

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