The Indian national football team delivered a stunning performance in the Semi-final of the SAFF Championship Final to enter the final of the SAFF Cup 2023 after beating Lebanon in the penalty shootout.
Watch: Lebanon vs India highlights; SAFF Championship 2023 Semi-Final
The Indian football team is one of the most strongest team in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), and they today met against Lebanon, who are not a SAFF member association, in the semi-final 2 of the SAFF Championship 2023.
This was the 3rd time in the last couple of days that both the Indian team and the Lebanon football team met against each other. Both the teams faced of recently in the Hero Intercontinental Cup twice, including the final, where the Blue Tigers won both the matches.
The match in the SAFF Championship 2024 Semi-Final held a utmost importance for both the team, as not only the SAFF Cup Final was on the spot, but also the opportunity to claim the Rank 18 in Asia in FIFA Rankings that would confirm the team's pot 2 entry for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier.
The match was exciting as never in the match did one side dominated. While it started with Lebanon dominating India for the first 15 minutes, the Men in Blue dominated the rest of the half. The 2nd half was a pretty evenly poised action.
Nothing could separate both the teams, not only in the 90 minutes of play, but also the extra time as the match ended in a 0-0 draw and headed to the penalty shootout.
While India captain Sunil Chhetri converted his penalty, Lebanon captain Hassan Maatouk's penalty was saved by India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Anwar Ali, Naorem Singh, Udanta Singh also converted for India while Khalil Bader missed the 2nd penalty for Lebanon as India won the match 4-2 scoreline in the penalty shootout. You can watch the Lebanon vs India highlights below:
India vs Lebanon SAFF Championship 2023 Highlights
India vs Kuwait SAFF Championship 2023 Final
This booked the Indian football team a place in the final of the SAFF Championship 2023, where they will face the 141 Ranked in FIFA Rankings, the Kuwait national football team. Both the teams met in the group stage as well where the Blue Tigers almost secured the victory until a very late own goal from Indian defender Anwar Ali.
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