India to host Panama in Bengaluru friendly on September 25
India will play Panama in an international friendly at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, 25 September 2026, the first of three scheduled friendlies for the Blue Tigers.
The match is India’s first since a friendly in June 2026; the side are winless in their last four competitive games and have managed only one victory so far this year. Head coach Khalid Jamil accepts India will be underdogs and has emphasised the need for a compact defensive shape, tight communication, efficiency from set-pieces and fast counter-attacks to test Panama.
For Panama, this will be their first outing since featuring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a preparatory fixture ahead of the Kirin Cup; Thomas Christiansen’s squad aim to regain match sharpness and deploy assertive, attacking football to trouble the hosts.
Khalid Jamil has named a 26-man India squad, with notable absentees including Sandesh Jhingan, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Liston Colaco. Thomas Christiansen has selected a 27-man Panama party, 14 of whom played at the World Cup, with new call-ups including Marcos De León, Jair Modelo, Joseph Jones, Josué Vergara, Daivis Murillo and Mijahir Jiménez. This will be the first-ever meeting between India and Panama.
Selected players named in pre-match material include Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Anwar Ali, Bijoy Varghese, Akash Mishra, Lalengmawia Ralte, Anirudh Thapa, Ashique Kuruniyan, Ryan Williams, Vikram Partap Singh and Manvir Singh for India; Orlando Mosquera (GK), Amir Murillo, José Córdoba, Andrés Andrade, Joseph Jones, Omar Valencia, Cristian Martinez, Carlos Harvey, Adalberto Carrasquilla, José Luis Rodríguez and Tomás Rodríguez for Panama.
Ryan Williams is poised to return after missing recent matches through injury; he has made two appearances for the Blue Tigers since obtaining Indian citizenship and scored one goal in that period, and is expected to lead India’s attacking efforts. The Slovan Bratislava midfielder Cristian Martinez, 29, has featured in the UEFA Champions League this season against Paris Saint-Germain and is projected to be a key figure in Panama’s midfield.
The friendly kicks off at 7:30 PM IST on Friday, 25 September at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru. The game will be shown live on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD and Sony Aath SD & HD (Bengali) and streamed on Sony LIV; Thomas Christiansen is the head coach of Panama and Khalid Jamil is the head coach of India.
