India will host Panama in an international friendly on September 26, 2026, during the FIFA Men’s International Match Window, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced.
The venue for the fixture will be confirmed at a later date.
The match will be the first-ever meeting between India and Panama and will give the Blue Tigers another opportunity to face a team that has featured at the FIFA World Cup.
Panama, currently ranked 44th in the FIFA World Rankings, represented CONCACAF at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The encounter will also be only the ninth time India have faced a team from the CONCACAF region.
The fixture forms part of a challenging run of matches for India against World Cup-playing nations. As things stand, the Panama game will be followed by a high-profile friendly against five-time world champions Brazil on October 3, before India take on New Zealand on November 12 and 15.
AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan said the Panama match would provide an important test for head coach Khalid Jamil’s side ahead of the Brazil encounter.
“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. 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.”
The September fixture is expected to offer India valuable exposure against high-quality international opposition as the team continues its preparations for upcoming competitive challenges.
(Inputs from AIFF)
