India vs Kuwait Head-To-Head: Previous meetings between SAFF Championship 2023 finalists before title showdown

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Defending champions India will face debutants Kuwait in the SAFF Championship 2023 final on Tuesday (July 4) at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The two nations will clash for the second time in this year's tournament.

While India defeated Lebanon 4-2 in a penalty shootout after regulation time and extra time ended in a stalemate in semifinal 2 to reach the summit clash, Kuwait beat Bangladesh 1-0 after extra time (AET) to book their final berth.

Both the semifinal matches were held at the same venue in Bengaluru on Saturday (July 1), starting with Abdullah Albloushi's strike that helped Kuwait into the final on their maiden attempt in SAFF Cup.

In the second semifinal, heroics from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu helped India enter the SAFF Championships final. Gurpreet saved the first Lebanon penalty by Maatouk, giving the Indian penalty takers the confidence to put their spot-kicks into the back of the net.

Chhetri, Anwar, Mahesh and Udanta converted their penalties for India, while Walid Shour and Mohamad Sadek found the net for Lebanon, but Khalil Bader fired the fourth and last penalty wide, handing the victory to India, who improved their ranking to 100.

Now, India and Kuwait are set to lock horns for the fourth time, having already met thrice, including the group stage fixture earlier in the 2023 SAFF Championship that had a say for in the toppers of the group. That match ended, 1-1 after an injury time leveller from Kuwait.

The previous meetings came in 1978 when Kuwait beat India 6-1 in the Asian Games. Next meeting came in a 2010 friendly in Abu Dhabi, which ended up in a 1-9 hammering for India. The only time the Blue Tigers beat the West Asians was in a 3-2 friendly win in 2004 in Kuwait City.

Here is a look at India vs Kuwait head-to-head record, results and all you need to know about their previous meeting ahead of the SAFF Championship 2023 final in Bengaluru:

India vs Kuwait Football head-to-head

India vs Kuwait SAFF Championship 2023 Final Details

Date: Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Kick off Time: 7:30 PM IST

Venue: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru

Telecast and Live Streaming: DD Sports & Fancode