New Delhi: The Indian senior men’s national team will host Panama in an international friendly match on September 26, 2026, during the FIFA men’s international match window. The venue for the fixture will be confirmed at a later date.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the two nations, and only the ninth different CONCACAF side India have faced in their history. Panama, currently ranked 44th in the FIFA World Ranking, will provide the Blue Tigers with another opportunity to test themselves against a World Cup-playing nation.
The Los Canaleros featured at the FIFA World Cup 2026, making the September fixture, as of now, the first of four matches India will play against this summer’s World Cup nations in 2026, with Brazil to follow on October 3 and New Zealand on November 12 and 15.
AIFF Deputy Secretary General M. Satyanarayan said, “Playing against Panama will be a tough battle ahead of the Brazil game. Panama are a top-50 team in the world, and it will be a good test for Khalid Jamil’s boys. We are looking forward to our players getting the right exposure, and we normally don’t get to play such World Cup teams. So it’s a good FIFA window for us, where we are playing such tough teams.”
Later, the Indian men’s national team is scheduled to travel to New Zealand for two friendly matches against the hosts on November 12 and 15, 2026, during the next FIFA international match window.
The first match will take place at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland, while the second will be held at the One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch. The matches were announced as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to New Zealand and will form part of a series of sporting events to celebrate ‘100 Years of Unity Through Sport’ between both nations.
India and New Zealand have faced each other on two previous occasions — a goalless draw in the 1981 Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia and a 2-1 victory for the visitors in the 2018 Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai.
The tour will mark the Indian national men’s team’s first-ever visit to New Zealand and their first trip to an OFC member nation since 2005, when India played two international friendlies against Fiji.
New Zealand recently participated in the FIFA World Cup 2026, where they drew with IR Iran and lost to Egypt and Belgium.
(IANS)
