Indian men’s football team will step up their preparation for the AFC Asian Cup when they participate in the King’s Cup in Thailand in September.

The Blue Tigers will be joined by hosts Thailand, Lebanon and Iraq in the tournament that will be held from September 7-10. The venue for the competition is yet to be announced.

Iraq will be the highest-ranked team in the tournament with a FIFA ranking of 67, at the time of writing.

After recent meetings, Lebanon, a familiar opponent for India, will be the second-highest-ranked team in the competition, placed at 99, two places above India.

Hosts Thailand are ranked 114th in the world but will enjoy home advantage.

The tournament will be a knockout competition with semi-finals on September 7 while the third-place and final matches are scheduled for September 10.

India took part in the 2019 King’s Cup, head coach Igor Stimac’s first assignment where they beat hosts Thailand but lost to Curacao.