India vs Panama Preview - Team news, lineups | International Friendly

Blue Tigers host La Marea Roja in Bengaluru.

India are ready to kick off what will be the first of three challenging international friendlies, when they host Panama at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday (25 September 2026).

The Blue Tigers look to prove their mettle against a team that played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Khalid Jamil hoping to use the home advantage to inspire his side to a positive result.

The Stakes

India

The Indian football team will be playing their first match since last playing in a friendly game way back in June (2026). They are winless in their last four competitive matches, only having won once so far this year.

Khalid Jamil knows that his side will be the underdogs for the upcoming three friendlies, and will look to hone them to thrive under that pressure. He will need to shape them up to be able to maintain a really compact and unbreakable defensive shape, needing the players to communicate and work together to close down spaces for the opposition players.

Moreover, Jamil needs his players to be efficient on set-pieces and swift-breaks to threaten the Panama side and be able to take the fight to them. A win or even a draw for India against Panama would be an encouraging result that shows that they can fight against much stronger opposition, but a crushing loss would dampen their momentum before the two big friendlies.

Panama

For the Panama football team, the friendly match against India will be the first match they play since featuring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup over the summer. It’ll also be a nice warm-up clash for the upcoming Kirin Cup tournament that they’ll take place in, which means their players won’t take the clash against India so lightly.

Indeed, the Panama players are going to look to improve their overall sharpness as a unit by playing assertive, attacking football.

They’ll look to trouble the Indian players with innovative attacking moves, using their experience levels and physical stature to trouble the hosts. A win for Panama would be a nice way to pick up momentum before the upcoming tournament, but a defeat would leave a bitter taste.

Team News

Khalid Jamil has chosen a 26-man squad for the upcoming friendly matches. The notable absentees from the squad includes Sandesh Jhingan, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Liston Colaco.

Thomas Christiansen has chosen a 27-man squad for the India friendly, out of which 14 of the players featured at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Marcos De León, Jair Modelo, Joseph Jones, Josué Vergara, Daivis Murillo and Mijahir Jiménez are some of the new faces in the squad.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first-ever India vs Panama clash to take place between the two national teams.

Predicted Lineups

India (4-4-2)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Anwar Ali, Bijoy Varghese, Akash Mishra, Lalengmawia Ralte, Anirudh Thapa, Ashique Kuruniyan, Ryan Williams, Vikram Partap Singh, Manvir Singh

Panama (5-4-1)

Orlando Mosquera (GK); Amir Murillo, José Córdoba, Andrés Andrade, Joseph Jones, Omar Valencia; Cristian Martinez, Carlos Harvey, Adalberto Carrasquilla, José Luis Rodríguez; Tomás Rodríguez

Players to Watchout

Ryan Williams (India)

Ryan Williams looks poised to make his return for India after missing the last few matches for them because of an injury.

He has only made two appearances for the Blue Tigers since taking up the Indian citizenship, scoring one goal in that period.

Now, the 32-year-old winger hopes to fire up his side’s attack in the friendly against Panama with his proactive nature. Williams will need to be really smart with his off-the-ball running to be able to get into the danger zones by fooling defenders and also raising his chances of getting more goal-scoring opportunities.

The Bengaluru FC star also needs to be smart with his link-up play and final third product to be a real thorn for the Panama players. With a lot of responsibilities piled on Williams, he needs to show himself capable of thriving under the pressure by spearheading the Indian frontline confidently and helping them be a notable threat in the final third.

Cristian Martinez (Panama)

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The Slovan Bratislava midfielder Cristian Martinez has had quite an eventful 2026-27 season so far, in which he has already played in the UEFA Champions League against defending champions Paris Saint-Germain!

The 29-year-old midfielder will look to help his Panama side control proceedings against India, being a proactive figure in his midfield and also a troublesome one in the opposition half.

Martinez is capable of popping up with the occasional goal contribution because of his creative and goal-scoring acumen, which he aims to showcase against India. The 29-year-old is going to look to dictate the tempo of the game for Panama, driving them forward with his clever passes and also looking to make smart runs into the final third to be able to enhance Panama’s goal threat.

Did you know?

• India have only won one game against sides from the CONCACAF region, which was against Puerto Rico.
• Panama qualified for only their second FIFA World Cup edition in the 2026 tournament.
• The last time India faced off against a CONCACAF side was their clash against Jamaica at the 2026 Unity Cup, resulting in a 2-0 loss.

Broadcast Details

The friendly international between India and Panama will take place on Friday, 25 September at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.

The match will begin at 7:30 PM IST. It will be shown live on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Aath SD & HD (Bengali) and be available to live stream on Sony LIV.

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