The men’s Indian football team will be back in action as the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023 gets underway! The tournament begins on June 9 and the final will be played on June 18, 2023. All the matches will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and will be telecast live in India.
This will be the third edition of the Hero Intercontinental Cup. The tournament, which kicked off in 2018, replaced the former Nehru Cup. On that occasion, India defeated Kenya to become the inaugural champions of the competition in 2018. In 2019, however, it was North Korea who clinched the crown by defeating Tajikistan.
The Intercontinental Cup is making a return after four years of absence. Four countries, including hosts India will take part in the competition. The other three nations are Mongolia, Vanuatu, and Lebanon.
Lebanon are the highest ranked team among the participating nations as they are placed 99th in the latest FIFA men’s rankings. India are second on the list with a rank of 101. Vanuatu and Mongolia are ranked 164th and 183rd, respectively. India have never faced Mongolia or Vanuatu before in an international football match.
Hosts India are arriving into this tournament on the back of a five-match winning streak at home under head coach Igor Stimac.
Lebanon and Vanuatu will face each other in the opening match of the Intercontinental Cup 2023. India will also be in action on the opening day, taking on Mongolia at 7:30 PM IST.
For Sunil Chhetri and Co, the Intercontinental Cup 2023 will serve as crucial practice ahead of the SAFF championship in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 4.
India are also scheduled to play the marquee AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar in January next year.
Where to watch Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023 live in India?
The live streaming for Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023 will be available on Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV in India.
The broadcast of the Intercontinental Cup will be on the Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD TV channels in India.
Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023 schedule and live match start times
As per Indian Standard Time (IST)
| Match No. | Date | Day | Team 1 | Team 2 | Venue | Time |
| 1 | June 9, 2023 | Friday | Lebanon | Vanuatu | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 16:30 IST |
| 2 | June 9, 2023 | Friday | India | Mongolia | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 19:30 IST |
| 3 | June 12, 2023 | Monday | Mongolia | Lebanon | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 16:30 IST |
| 4 | June 12, 2023 | Monday | Vanuatu | India | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 19:30 IST |
| 5 | June 15, 2023 | Thursday | Vanuatu | Mongolia | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 16:30 IST |
| 6 | June 15, 2023 | Thursday | India | Lebanon | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 19:30 IST |
| Final | June 18, 2023 | Sunday | TBD | TBD | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 19:30 IST |
Format of the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023
All four nations – India, Mongolia, Lebanon, and Vanuatu – have been placed in the same group. All the teams will play matches against each other once in a Round-Robin format. After every team has played a match against the other three, the top two teams from the group will advance to the final of the tournament which will be played on June 18, 2023 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The teams playing here will be ranked in the group on the basis of points. Every win gets a team three points while a draw earns them a point each. No points are awarded for a loss.
At the end of all the games, if two teams are tied on points, then the following criteria are to be followed:
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Goals scored in all group matches
- Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group
- Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points)
- Drawing of lots
Team India national team squad for Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh
Defenders: Subhasish Bose, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Mehtab Singh and Rahul Bheke
Midfielders: Liston Colaco, Ashique Kuruniyan, Rohit Kumar, Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Jeakson Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lalengmawia Ralte, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rowllin Borges and Nandha Kumar
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Rahim Ali and Ishan Pandita
Head Coach: Igor Stimac
