New Delhi, Sept. 20 -- Playing in a Fifa World Cup against world-class opponents being a distant dream, India have apparently opted for a shortcut to get a feel of it. In the September-October Fifa international window, India's senior men's national team will host three teams that featured in the World Cup 2026 that concluded in July.

While the first match is against Panama (Fifa ranking 44) on 25 September at Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium, the other two are at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium (VYBK) against five-time World Cup winners Brazil (ranked 5) and Uruguay (ranked 20) on 3 and 6 October, respectively.

National coach Khalid Jamil has the unenviable task of making his players competitive against these top-tier teams. He has left...