Live streaming, SAFF Championship 2023: India vs Pakistan on Day 1 - full schedule

The Indian men’s football team will begin its title defence at the SAFF Championship 2023 against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. 

The India vs Pakistan football match is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM. Kuwait will take on Nepal in the tournament opener earlier in the day. All SAFF Championship 2023 matches will be available on live streaming in India.

The 14th edition of the SAFF Championship football tournament will see eight teams - India, Lebanon, Kuwait, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan - competing for the title.

Lebanon and Kuwait are members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) but have joined as guest teams. Sree Kanteerava Stadium will host all matches. There will be 15 matches in total.

SAFF Championship 2023: Teams and groups

Group A: India, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakistan

Group B: Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh

India, led by Sunil Chhetri, are 101st in the FIFA rankings and are the top-ranked team in Group A. Kuwait are world No. 143 followed by world No. 174 Nepal, who were the runners-up at the last edition in 2021. Pakistan are ranked 195th.

Group B comprises the tournament’s best-ranked team Lebanon (world No. 99), Maldives (world No. 154), Bhutan (world No. 185) and Bangladesh (world No. 192).

The group stage will be played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be played on July 1. The final will be held on July 4.

India have won the SAFF Championship eight times and are the most successful team in the tournament. The Maldives are two-time champions while Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have won the title once each. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, however, are not part of this year’s edition.

The Igor Stimac-managed Indian national football team recently won the Intercontinental Cup defeating Lebanon in the final. India are currently on a roll with six clean sheets in-a-row. The last time India went six games without conceding was back in 1951-52.

Where to watch SAFF Championship 2023 live

Live streaming of the SAFF Championship 2023 football tournament will be available on FanCode. The live telecast of the SAFF Championship in India is yet to be confirmed.

SAFF Championship 2023: Schedule and live match start times

All in Indian Standard Times (IST)

June 21, Wednesday

Kuwait vs Nepal - 3:30 PM

India vs Pakistan - 7:30 PM

June 22, Thursday

Lebanon vs Bangladesh - 3:30 PM

Maldives vs Bhutan - 7:30 PM

June 24, Saturday

Pakistan vs Kuwait - 3:30 PM

India vs Nepal - 7:30 PM

June 25, Sunday

Bangladesh vs Maldives - 3:30 PM

Lebanon vs Bhutan - 7:30 PM

June 27, Tuesday

Nepal vs Pakistan - 3:30 PM

India vs Kuwait - 7:30 PM

June 28, Wednesday

Lebanon vs Maldives - 3:30 PM

Bhutan vs Bangladesh - 7:30 PM

July 1, Saturday

Semi-final 1 - 3:30 PM 

Semi-final 2 - 7:30 PM 

July 2, Sunday

Final - 7:30 PM