Kuwait vs India in the final South Asian Federation championship: Everything you need to know

Kuwait and India reached the final of the South Asian Gold Cup, after defeating Bangladesh and Lebanon in the Golden Square matches today, Saturday.

The Kuwait national team reserved its seat in the final after its first participation in the tournament, thanks to its difficult and arduous victory over Bangladesh with a clean goal that came in the last minute of the first extra session through Abdullah Ammar Al Balushi, who hit a powerful ball from inside the penalty area.

And the penalty shootout decided the qualification of the Indian national team at the expense of Lebanon, 4-2, after the end of the match in its original and extra time on a goalless draw.

The final round between Kuwait and India will be held next Tuesday, the fourth of July.

The Kuwait national team qualified with India to the semi-finals for the first group teams, to set the date again in the final round, after they tied in the group stage 1-1, while Lebanon and Bangladesh left the competition in the semi-finals after both qualified for the second group teams. .

What is the Gold Cup for South Asian countries?

The SAFF Championship is a major football competition for men’s national teams and is organized by the SAFF. The teams participating in the competition are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The tournament is held every two years. Where the first version of the tournament was held in 1993 in Pakistan and won by India.

The 2023 edition of the South Asian Gold Cup is taking place in the Indian city of Bengaluru, and it recorded the participation of 8 teams who were distributed into two groups, as the first group included the teams of India, Kuwait, Pakistan and Nepal, while the second group included Lebanon, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Bhutan.

India is the most crowned team in the South Asian Gold Cup with 8 titles, followed by the Maldives with two titles.

The 2023 edition of the South Asian Gold Cup comes as a preparatory station for the upcoming Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatari stadiums early next year 2024, in addition to preparing for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.