AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey opens up about India playing Brazil on October 3rd
India to play Brazil on October 3rd in an international friendly
Things are getting interesting as India are all set to take on five-time FIFA World Cup Champions Brazil in an international friendly on 3rd October at the VYBK Stadium, Kolkata. Fans have been filled with joy and excitement as both AIFF and Brazil Football Federation confirmed the friendly fixtures. However, there is backlash as well, especially since India are scheduled to be playing in the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 during the same window.
There is a high possibility that India will withdraw from the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 due to the international friendly scheduled during the same time with footballing giants Brazil. However, there will surely be repercussions to that as well affecting the relationship between FIFA and AIFF.
AIFF President, Kalyan Chaubey has shared his views on the international friendly scheduled with Brazil talking to PTI. In this article we take a look at what Kalyan Chaubey said.
Stronger opponents are key for improvement
Kalyan Chaubey speaking to PTI, shared his views that India’s progress on the international stage depends on playing competitive opponents consistently. He also talked about the efforts AIFF has been putting to arrange some quality friendlies for India.
Kalyan Chaubey also thanked Brazil Football Federation, and everyone involved in bringing Brazil to India to face the national team.
Kalyan Chaubey started stating, “To develop the national team and improve our players, we must play stronger opponents. Unless you play stronger opponents, you will not improve.”
“For the last couple of years, I have been trying to bring top-ranked teams in Asia to play FIFA international friendlies against India, but somehow that could not be successful. I tried with Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. However, I am very happy that after long efforts, we have finally managed to get Brazil, who are five-time world champions and currently among the top five in the FIFA Rankings, to play in Kolkata.”
“Kolkata is a place where football is extremely popular, and the people are known for their support for Brazil. India also has a significant number of Brazilian football supporters. I think this match will definitely create a lot of enthusiasm among football fans, and many people will come forward to take football up as a career.”
“I want to thank the President of the Brazilian Football Federation. I also want to thank everyone involved, as they collectively put in their best efforts and ensured that Brazil and India will play in India. We worked hard for it, and I’m very happy that everything went well,” he further added.
Long efforts to bring Brazil
The AIFF president also admitted speaking to PTI that India’s FIFA Ranking makes things tough to organise friendlies with superior elite footballing nations. However, he emphasized on how the federation went the extra mile to convince Brazil.
“No, it’s not easy. When, ranking-wise, you are not in a decent position, it is very difficult to convince a superior opponent to play against you. I have always believed in going the extra mile to show what India can offer to global football. We have the largest population in the world, a huge youth population, and there are several areas where India is already ahead. So, football cannot lag behind. Therefore, it took a little extra effort to ensure that we could bring a team like Brazil to play in India.”
Playing better opponents will be important
Kalyan Chaubey pointed out that India’s fixtures from 2016-22 were good and competitive but competing repeatedly against the same teams offers limited chances of improvement.
He pointed out how in the recent years there has been a change where India have been playing good opponents regularly and also looking ahead of the SAFF Championship.
“I was going through the statistics and records of India’s opponents from 2016 to 2022. I saw that India played Nepal five times, Afghanistan four times, Bangladesh three times, and then we played Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Macau, Laos, Hong Kong, etc. Without disrespecting any country, it is always better to play against stronger opponents.”
“If you look at the last three years, we played Australia in the AFC Asian Cup, we played in the Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia, we played Iran, who are among the top five teams in Asia, and we also played in CAFA for the first time, moving outside the SAFF region. If you see the last ten editions of the SAFF Championship, India won nine times. So it became very evident and predictable that we needed to raise the level of competition a little. That is why I invited Lebanon and Kuwait to play in the SAFF Championship, and we saw better competition. India eventually won that SAFF Cup.”
A tough but important road awaits India
At the end Kalyan Chaubey expressed his hope that India continues to play stronger opponents and also talked about the upcoming matches against New Zealand and Brazil. He said that playing tough opponents regardless of the results is very important for growth of a national team.
“India will be playing New Zealand in the November international window, and India will also play Brazil before that. I think the more we play better opponents, the better it is for us.”
“With the support of other football federations, the more international friendlies we can arrange, the better it will be for us. We may not win all those matches, but there will always be room for improvement. So, I think playing a match against Brazil is about understanding your strengths, identifying the areas where you need to improve, developing your football further, and, of course, taking Indian football to new heights,” Kalyan Chaubey concluded with.
When will India play Brazil?
India will Brazil on 3rd October at the VYBK Stadium, Kolkata.
Who is the President of AIFF?
Kalyan Chaubey is the President of AIFF.
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Ayushman Sharma is a sports enthusiast with a deep love for football, following the game closely since 2018. A hardcore supporter of NorthEast United FC and FC Barcelona, he has also gained valuable on-ground experience by volunteering during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Guwahati.