Before Brazil clash, Indian football team face world no.44 Panama in FIFA friendly; venue to be confirmed on later date

The Indian football team will take on Panama in a FIFA friendly on September 26, a week ahead of their highly-anticipated clash against five-time champions Brazil. Livemint on Monday had confirmed Panama Football Federation's acceptance of playing against India during the FIFA men's international window. The venue will be announced at a later date.

It will be a 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 world, 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.

“Playing against Panama will be a tough battle ahead of the Brazil game. Panama is a top-50 team in the world, and it will be a good test for Khalid Jamil's boys,” AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan said.

"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," Satyanarayan added.

The FIFA friendly against Panama came as a compensation after the AIFF withdrew from the Asean Cup due to the clash of dates with India vs Brazil clash. The FIFA Asean Cup 2026 starts on September 24, with the final to be held on October 3. In case, India would have qualified for the final, it would clash dates with the Brazil clash at the iconic Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata.

Post the FIFA friendlies against Brazil and Panama, India will travel to New Zealand for two more away games in November, thus giving the Blue Tigers a perfect platform to play four times against national teams that featured in the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

How Panama fared at the 2026 World Cup?

Panama was grouped with England, Ghana an Croatia in the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Group L. Coached by Denmark-born Thomas Christiansen, Panama suffered identical 0-1 losses against Ghana and Croatia before suffering a 0-2 defeat against England.

The clash against India will serve as a preparation for Panama who are set to travel to Japan to play in the four-nation Kirin Cup 2026. Hosts Japan, Ecuador (25) and New Zealand (86) are the three other teams in the Kirin Cup 2026 with the games to be played in Yokohama and Tokyo.