India to face Vietnam & Lebanon in Tri-Nation series in October 2024

The Blue Tigers will play the Golden Star Warriors in the tournament’s opening fixture.

The Indian football team is all set to compete in a tri-lateral tournament in Vietnam during the October international break. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has officially announced that the tournament will be held in the Thien Truong Stadium in Vietnam. It will feature India, Vietnam and Lebanon battling each other for the ultimate honour.

With the All India Football Federation (AIFF) working to organize more competitive international fixtures, this will be the second competition for the Blue Tigers under their newly appointed head coach Manolo Marquez.

The fixture falls in the middle of the Indian Super League (ISL) season, testing Manolo’s ability to balance both club and country duties simultaneously. The Spanish tactician will certainly see this as an opportunity to implement effective improvements after analyzing the team’s performance in the ongoing Intercontinental Cup. Vietnam will be their opponent in the opening fixture of the tournament.

However, Vietnam also joins the tournament following a managerial change, with Sang-sik Kim appointed to lead the Golden Star Warriors earlier this year. Meanwhile, Lebanon will compete under the guidance of Miodrag Radulovic aiming to secure the first competitive trophy for the Cedars during his tenure.

Vietnam enters the competition as the highest-ranked team, placed 115th in the list, closely followed by Lebanon at 116th. Meanwhile, the Indian National Football Team is ranked 124th in the current FIFA Men’s World Ranking, making them the lowest-ranked team in the tournament.

Considering that the gap between all three teams in the competition is merely significant, it is likely to be an evenly-matched tournament with no clear favourites at the moment.

India will look to enter the tournament as the Intercontinental Cup champions. The men in blue have a title decider to play against Syria in the final fixture of the tournament. Nothing less than a win will secure them the trophy.

Here is the schedule for the tournament:

09/10/2024 | Vietnam vs India (20:00 IST)

12/10/2024 | Lebanon vs India (20:00 IST)

15/10/2024 | Vietnam vs Lebanon (20:00 IST)

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