King's Cup 2023: India to face Iraq in four-team tournament

India men’s football team have been drawn to play Iraq in the opening fixture of the 49th King’s Cup 2023 in Thailand. The draw ceremony took place at the Football Association of Thailand on Wednesday. The four-country tournament also features host Thailand and Lebanon. All matches will take place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The three-day tournament will see India take on Iraq on September 7 with the second match-up between Thailand and Lebanon later in the day. The winning teams will progress to the final on September 10. The losing teams, however, will play a third-place play-off match ahead of the final. India, ranked 99th, last met with Iraq, ranked 70th, in a friendly in Baghdad in 2010. On that day, Iraq emerged 2-0 victors. This will be India’s fourth participation in the King’s Cup in Thailand, with the most recent one coming in 2019, where the Blue Tigers went down to Curaçao in the semi-final before beating hosts Thailand 1-0 for the bronze medal. India also won bronze in their first appearance in the tournament in 1977, defeating South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. In 1981, India were eliminated in the group stage. King’s Cup schedule: India vs Iraq (September 7 at 4 PM IST) Thailand vs Lebanon (September 7 at 7 PM IST) Third-place play-off (September 10 at 4 PM IST) Final (September 10 at 7 PM IST)