FIFA World Cup 2022 has come to an end. Throughout the tournament, we saw a lot of drama. Finally, in the end, it was Argentina who were crowned the World Cup champions. Although India were not part of the perennial tournament, there was enough drama in Indian football in the year, 2022. India's year started with a not-so-good AFC Women's Asian Cup outing.  India who were the hosts of the tournament had to withdraw after only one match due to a massive COVID outbreak. This was a heartbreaking moment for the Indian team but fans stood beside them throughout the journey. Then for the first time ever, the Indian women's team failed to reach the finals of the SAFF Women's Championship. Meanwhile, the men's team qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 after finishing at the top of their group by winning all three matches against Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia in front of a jubilant Kolkata crowd. I-League: Kibu Vicuna Named Mohammedan SC’s New Head Coach.

Now after this we saw some enthralling club football action. Under Owen Coyle, Jamshedpur FC won the ISL 2021-22 Shield title. Meanwhile, Hyderabad FC won the ISL 2021-22 finals after defeating Kerala Blasters in front of a houseful Fatorda Stadium. Gokulam Kerala created history by defending both the I-League and Indian Women's League title. Bengaluru FC were crowned Durand Cup champions. Mumbai City showed their heart and finished second at the 2022 AFC Champions League group B table. Mumbai narrowly missed a chance to qualify for the ACL round of 16. Meanwhile, ATK Mohun Bagan made a tremendous comeback to qualify from their AFC Cup group. But unfortunately, they fell short to the Malaysian club, Kuala Lumpur City.

In between all this, we saw a huge drama around the All India Football Federation which caused India to get suspended by FIFA. Fortunately for the Indian team, the suspension was lifted and India managed to host FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Girls made history by participating in the tournament which gave them a lot of exposure. Now as the year 2022 is coming to an end, we will be hoping for a new dawn in Indian football in 2023. However, before that, let's take a look at all the domestic and international fixtures of Indian football for the year 2023.

Domestic and International Football Fixture of India, 2023

Indian Super League: Indian Super League 2022-23 season is currently running smoothly. Mumbai City FC, Hyderabad FC and ATK Mohun Bagan are currently looking like the front runners. The 9th edition of ISL will finish in March. Meanwhile, the 10th edition will take commence in the second/third week of October.

I-League: Similar to ISL, I-League 2022-23 is currently happening without any issues. Sreenidi Deccan, RG Punjab and Real Kashmir are giving a tough fight to defending champions Gokulam Kerala. The 16th edition of I-League will finish in the month of march and the 17th edition will most likely commence in October/November.

Indian Super Cup: The Indian Super Cup is all set to make a comeback after four long years. Teams from ISL and I-League will feature in the tournament. The tournament will start once the ongoing ISL and I-League seasons come to an end. The tentative date is the first week of April.

Indian Women's League: After a gap of one season, the Indian Women's league finally made its return earlier in the year. It is expected that the premier domestic club competition for women's football in India will take place in the upcoming year too. Although there is no confirmed date if AIFF decide to follow last year's schedule, the tournament will take place in April-May.

AFC Cup 2022-23: From the upcoming season, AFC have decided to follow an autumn-spring schedule. Hence the preliminary rounds of the AFC Cup 2022-23 will start in the first week of August. Two Indian teams will take part in this competition.

AFC Asian Champions League 2022-23: Similar to the AFC Cup, AFC will use a different schedule for ACL, starting from the next season. The ACL 2022-23 qualifiers will begin in the second week of August. One Indian club will take part in this edition's premier Asian club competition.

SAFF Championship 2023: The 14th edition of the SAFF Championship might take place in 2023. The host country is yet to be determined. The tentative date of the tournament is September 2023.

AFC Asian Cup 2023: For the first time in many years, Indian have qualified for consecutive AFC Asian Cup tournaments. Originally the tournament was scheduled to take place in China between June 16 - July 16. However, China decided to withdraw their hosting rights and later Qatar emerged as the new host. Now due to very high summer temperatures in the Gulf region, Qatar will most likely host the tournament in early 2024.

FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Joint Qualifiers: FIFA have decided to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from the next FIFA World Cup 2026 which will take place in the USA, Canada and Mexico. AFC will have 8 direct slots for the tournament. The Asian qualifiers are all set to begin on October 12, 2023. Meanwhile, India have already qualified for the second round and will start their journey on November 2023. This will also serve as the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers.

International Friendlies: The Indian team played quite a few friendly matches in 2022 and are expected to do the same in 2023. However, AIFF are yet to announce any international friendly match so far.

AIFF has also restarted the youth leagues from this season which will continue the next year along with the Santosh Trophy. Overall, we can say, Indian football will have a packed-up schedule for the year 2023. India finish 2022 as the 106th-ranked nation in men's FIFA rankings and 61st in women's FIFA rankings. It will be interesting to see where India stand next year, at this time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2022 01:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).