Panaji: Indian football has never had it so good, not at least with friendlies against high-profile opposition.For the Sept 21-Oct 6 FIFA international match window, where countries are allowed to play a maximum of four games, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has lined up three friendlies, two of them against former world champions. All games will be played at home.It all starts with FIFA World Cup 2026 participants Panama at the Sree Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru on Sept 26, followed by a historic clash against five-time world champions Brazil in Kolkata on Oct 3. Now, there’s another high-profile clash, against Uruguay, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Oct 6.While India will face Brazil and Panama for the first time in men’s football, Uruguay are no strangers to the country. The South American giants won the 1982 Nehru Cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata with a squad that had several stars, and it included the brilliant Enzo Francescoli, a player so good that Zinedine Zidane named his first son after the Uruguayan superstar.“Uruguay’s arrival in Kolkata adds another major fixture to an unprecedented run of international football for Indian fans, with three World Cup-playing nations — Panama, Brazil and Uruguay — set to visit the country within the same FIFA window,” the AIFF said in a statement on Thursday.Uruguay had a hugely ill-fated World Cup campaign that saw them knocked out in the group stage after failing to win a single match. Ranked 20th in the world, they drew against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, and were knocked out after a solitary goal loss against eventual champions Spain.Uruguay are now coached by former Mumbai City forward Diego Forlan.The South Americans are expected to arrive in India with a full-strength squad. Forlan’s Uruguay will play two friendlies against Japan (Sept 24, Miyagi) and South Korea (Sept 28, Seoul), before they set foot in Kolkata for the final friendly of their Asia sojourn.The three friendlies are expected to cost AIFF approx. Rs 80-90 crore.AIFF’s initial plans were to play the three friendlies in different states but two of the three games – against Brazil and Uruguay – will now be played in Kolkata. Before Bengaluru was finalised, Imphal was being discussed as a potential venue to host Panama, guaranteeing a capacity crowd of 30,000, while Kochi was in contention to host Uruguay.India opted out of the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia to focus on the friendly against Brazil, a game the AIFF described as a “once in a lifetime opportunity for the players.” Subsequently, games against Uruguay and Panama were added to the international window.India are ranked a poor 138 in the world and will find the going tough against two former world champions and a team that featured in the most recent World Cup.
