Indian men’s national football team to host Malaysia in November 2024

The Blue Tigers are winless since November 2023

The Senior India Men’s National team will play a friendly match against Malaysia during the FIFA window on November 19, 2024. The Blue Tigers’ media team announced on the 25th of September. 

The match will be played in India and the venue will be announced in the coming days. 

Currently ranked 132nd in FIFA Rankings, Malaysia are placed six places below India, who currently stand in 126th position. 

The last encounter between these two teams was in October 2023, in the semi-finals of the Merdeka Cup. The Blue Tigers suffered a hefty defeat in that game, losing by four goals to two. 

A new challenge for Manolo Marquez

The Indian men’s football team will also be in action for the 2024 Tri-Nation series. The tournament starts from 9 October onwards, wherein India will play the hosts Vietnam in the opening fixture followed by a meeting with Lebanon at the Thien Truong Stadium. 

These two fixtures will allow Manolo to get a better idea of his squad and also test various tactical approaches. 

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

India’s performance in the Intercontinental Cup 2024 was pretty disappointing, as the Blue Tigers got on a single point from two fixtures, and also failed to score a single goal. Marquez will look to break India’s winless streak and turn the tides for the Blue Tigers.  

The last instance when the Blue Tigers won a fixture, was against Kuwait at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on 16 November 2023. 

Moving close to going a whole calendar year without a single official win is going to make the players nervous. However, the stark reality is that the Blue Tigers must improve the quality of their performances quickly. Manolo Marquez has the mighty difficult task of delivering positive results in a short period to justify his appointment as the head coach. 

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