The Indian men’s national football team will lock horns against Malaysia in a one-off friendly on November 18 at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad.

It will be the rematch of the 2023 Merdeka Cup semi-final, where the Blue Tigers succumbed to a 4-2 defeat against hosts Malaysia. Since then, the results of both sides have been contrasting.

The Indian football team is winless in each of their last 10 fixtures. Moreover, the Blue Tigers have yet to secure a single win in the 2024 calendar year.

Whereas Malaysia have won four out of their last five matches, as their only defeat came against mighty New Zealand, where the Harimau Malaya suffered a 0-4 defeat in an away game. Moreover, the 2024 Merdeka Cup winners, who secured a 3-1 win over Chinese Taipei in the 2026 FIFA World Cup second-round qualifiers, are coming off another 3-1 victory against the Laos side in a friendly game on November 14.

Significantly, both teams have undergone major changes in their coaching setups, as Manolo Marquez and Pau Martí are now in charge of India and Malaysia, respectively, following the departures of Igor Stimac and Kim Pan-gon.

India and Malaysia share a historic rivalry since their first meeting in a 1957 friendly in Kuala Lumpur, where the Blue Tigers registered a 3-0 victory courtesy of PK Banerjee's brace and a Tulsidas Balaram strike. With both teams set to battle it out for the 33rd time, it has been a pretty close competition with both teams securing the same number of wins (12) from their previous 32 meetings.

Match Played: 32

India won: 12

Malaysia won: 12

Draw: 8

Manolo Marquez anticipated a tough game against Malaysia but showered faith in his players’ abilities and collective spirit. The Spaniard was optimistic about bringing out a positive result against the Harimau Malaya in the forthcoming friendly.

"I am fully focused on the Malaysia match at the moment. In a way, it's a dangerous game because the players are in the middle of the fight for the ISL, and this is just one friendly game in November, and the next camp will be in four months. But I am very confident in this group, and I feel we will have a good performance next Monday," the Blue Tigers’ head coach remarked.

Match Details

Fixture: India vs Malaysia

Date: November 18, 2024

Venue: GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Streaming and Telecast: Jio Cinema, Sports 18

Related tags:

2024-2025