26-member Indian squad for Merdeka Cup announced
The tournament will be played in Malaysia from October 13-17.

The All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday announced the 26-member squad for the Merdeka Cup tournament in Malaysia.
The tournament will be played in Malaysia from October 13-17. India have participated in this event twice in their history and finished as runners-up on both occasions (1959 and 1964).
.@stimac_igor names2️⃣6️⃣ probables for Merdeka Cup 2023 🙌🏼
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 29, 2023
Full list 👉🏼 https://t.co/2jRoRR11c6#BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/aWhHdPuRs4
The Merdeka Cup 2023 will be a four-team affair with hosts Malaysia, Palestine and Tajikistan are the other teams. To be played on a knockout basis, India will take on hosts Malaysia in the second semi-final on October 13. Palestine and Tajikistan will cross swords in the first semi-final earlier on the same day.
October 17 has been kept as the day for the final and also for the third-placed match, which will be played between the two losing semi-finalists.
The final list of 23 players, who will travel to Malaysia, will be announced in the second week of October.
The 26-member probable list is as follows –
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith and Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Nikhil Poojary, Roshan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Mehtab Singh, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra and Subhasish Bose.
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh, Suresh Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Rohit Kumar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Udanta Singh, Vikram Pratap Singh, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Liston Colaco and Nandhakumar Sekar.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri and Manvir Singh.
Head Coach: Igor Stimac