King's Cup 2023: Iraq defeat India 5-4 via penalty shootout in semi-finals

India suffered a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Iraq in the semi-finals of the 2023 King's Cup. The match took place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Thailand and ended with a score of 5-4 in favor of Iraq.

Despite the absence of their star player, Sunil Chhetri, India managed to hold their ground against the world's 70th ranked team, Iraq. The match was a rollercoaster of emotions as India twice took the lead over Iraq, only to end in a 2-2 draw after regulation time. Naorem Mahesh Singh and an own goal by Iraq's goalkeeper, Jalal Hasan, accounted for India's two goals.

As for Iraq, they scored two penalties, first through AFC Wimbledon’s Ali Al-Hamadi after Sandesh Jhinghan picked up a yellow card for handling the ball in the box. Jhinghan was on the receiving end of the second penalty as well, with the Indian defender fouling Aymen Ghadhban in the box. Ghadhban then converted the spot-kick in



the 79th minute to level proceedings for Iraq.

The match also saw some drama with Zidane Iqbal, a former Manchester United youth academy product, receiving a red card for a challenge on Brandon Fernandes, reducing Iraq to 10 men in second-half injury time.

The game then proceeded to a penalty shootout, where all five Iraqi players successfully converted their penalties. For India, Brandon Fernandes was the unfortunate one to miss out as his penalty struck the right-hand post. The winning penalty for Iraq was scored by Aymen, who confidently slotted the ball into the right corner past a diving Gurpreet, India's goalkeeper.

This loss was particularly poignant for India as they were on the brink of their first-ever victory against Iraq. Despite the defeat, the Indian team's performance was memorable and valiant. They will now play the third-placed playoff against either Thailand or Lebanon.