The draw for the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament, held to commemorate 75 years of Maldivian football, took place last night, pitting the Maldives against Afghanistan in their opening match.

In the Diamond Jubilee Football Tournament, scheduled to be held in Malé from the 1st to the 10th of next month, Pakistan and Bangladesh will compete alongside the Maldives and Afghanistan. The tournament will be played in a round-robin league format followed by a final, with the competition kicking off on the afternoon of the 1st with a match between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Following the opening ceremony that night, the Maldives will face Afghanistan, while the Maldives will take on Pakistan in their second match on the afternoon of the 4th. The Maldives will play their final match of the league round against Bangladesh on the night of the 7th at 9:00 PM.

While the Maldivian squad continues its practices to compete in the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament, their first-match opponents, Afghanistan, have previously competed in the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup held in the Maldives. Additionally, Afghanistan competed in the SAFF Championship from 2003 to 2015. Out of the seven SAFF Championship tournaments Afghanistan played in, they reached the final in the last three consecutive editions and won the championship title in 2013.

Although Sri Lanka was the first to accept the invitation and officially announce its participation in the Diamond Jubilee Tournament, Afghanistan was given the slot after Sri Lanka withdrew. The matches in the tournament will be FIFA Tier 1 friendly matches.