Indian men's senior national football team calendar for 2026

Busy months ahead for India men’s senior national football team in 2026

The Indian men’s senior national football team have already played some games in 2026 so far. From AFC Asian Cup qualifiers to the Tajikistan friendly tour, the Blue Tigers have featured in 5 games so far under head coach Khalid Jamil.

However, the year has not been good at all for the Blue Tigers despite starting it on a positive note with a victory over Hong Kong. India under Khalid Jamil have so far not done very well, but the year is still not over as the Blue Tigers will participate in a lot of games moving ahead.

In this article we take a look at the Indian men’s senior football team’s remaining footballing calendar for 2026 and also take a glance at their results so far this year.

The FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 challenge

The Indian football team will next be seen in action in the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 in the September FIFA Window. India, being a non ASEAN nation participating, have been placed in Division 1 Group A alongside hosts Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The tournament is scheduled to be played during the FIFA international window from September 21 to October 6, 2026, and is divided into two divisions based on the nation’s FIFA rankings. This tournament can be very helpful for India as they gear up for the upcoming FIFA qualifiers and provide a much-needed global competitive exposure.

This FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 will see the group winners from both the divisions progress directly to the finals, while the runners-up will meet in a third-place playoffs, meaning that there will be no semifinals in this tournament.

• September 21st to October 6th

The New Zealand friendly tour

After moving on from the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026, later in the year, the Blue Tigers will fly to New Zealand to play two friendly matches in November.

India will first play the FIFA World Cup 2026 participant, New Zealand on November 12th at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland and later travel to Christchurch for the second friendly at the newly built One New Zealand Stadium on November 15th.

• November 12, 2026: New Zealand vs India, Go Media Stadium, Auckland
• November 15, 2026: New Zealand vs India, One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch

SAFF Championship 2026

The SAFF Championship 2026 is confirmed to be played in the November FIFA window starting a couple of days before it on 4th November and will end on 17th November.

India are also expected to be part of the SAFF Championship 2026, the question however is that whether the senior team will play the SAFF Championship 2026 or the U-23 will be fielded as the senior team will be playing New Zealand during the same window in November 2026 on 12th and 15th November.

• 4th November – 17th November 2026: SAFF Championship 2026

India’s results in 2026 so far

India’s form in 2026 under Khalid Jamil has been a disaster despite starting the year on a positive note with a 2-1 win over Hong Kong at Kochi. The Blue Tigers have so far played 5 games in the year so far and have managed to win just 1 game out of the 5. Out of the 5 games, India have lost 3 games and managed to tie 1 game against Tajikistan.

The Unity Cup 2026 was a complete disaster for the Blue Tigers both on and off the field as they could not manage to score even 1 goal in the tournament. Moving ahead, the Blue Tigers played 2 friendlies against Tajikistan managing just 1 draw and losing the other friendly.

Results so far in 2026:

• India 2-1 Hong Kong
• Jamaica 2-0 India
• Zimbabwe 1-0 India
• Tajikistan 3-1 India
• Tajikistan 1-1 India

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