By Patrick Scally in Features December 5, 2018

Kunming will host the 2018 Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan International Football Tournament from December 8 through 16. Participating teams in the round-robin tournament hail from five countries — Thailand, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Pakistan and China.

A total of 16 games will be played, with the vast majority of those taking place at Haigeng Training Center on the northern shore of Dianchi Lake. The tournament's opening match will be played at Tuodong Stadium, as will the semifinal and final games. All matches held at Haigeng Training Center are free and open to the public.

Teams

Name: Chonburi FC
Based in Chonburi, Thailand
Nickname: Sharks
Play in the top division of Thai football and last won their league in 2007

Name: Nurafshon Inter FC
Based in Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Nickname: Steppe Warriors
Play in the top division of Uzbek football

Name: FK Zvezdara FC
Based in Belgrade, Serbia
Nickname: The Poppies
Play in the third level of Serbian football, last year finished second in their league

Name: Mehran FC
Based in Islamabad, Pakistan
Member of the Islamabad Football Association

Name: Jiangxi Liansheng Inter
Based in Nanchang, China
Nickname: The Shield
The first and only professional football club in Jiangxi

Name: Sichuan Jiuniu
Based in Chengdu, China
Nickname: Bulls
Play in China's League Two, last year finished twenty-fourth

Name: Shenyang Urban FC
Based in Shenyang, China
Nickname: Tigers
Play in China's League Two, last year finished sixth

Name: Nantong Zhiyun FC
Based in Nantong, China
Nickname: Wolves
Play in China's League Two, promoted after last season

December 8-16 schedule

December 8

Group A
10:00am: Shenyang Urban FC vs Narafshon Inter (Tuodong Stadium)
2:30pm: Belgrade Zvezdara vs Jiangxi Liansheng Inter (Haigeng Training Center)

Group B
10:00am: Sichuan Jiuniu vs Pakistan Mehran (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Chonburi FC vs Nantong Zhiyun FC (Haigeng Training Center)

December 10

Group A
10:00am: Pakistan Mehran vs Nantong Zhiyun FC (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Chonburi FC vs Sichuan Jiuniu (Haigeng Training Center)

Group B
10:00am: Narfshon Inter vs Jiangxi Liansheng Inter (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Belgrade Zvezdara vs Shenyang Urban FC (Haigeng Training Center)

December 12

Group A
10:00am: Shenyang Urban FC vs Jiangxi Liansheng Inter (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Belgrade Zvezdara vs Nurafshon Inter (Haigeng Training Center)

Group B
10:00am: Nantong Zhiyun vs Sichuan Jiuniu (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Chonburi FC vs Pakistan Mehran (Haigeng Training Center)

December 14

Semifinals
10:00am: Group A winner vs Group B runner-up (Tuodong Stadium)
2:30pm: Group B winner vs Group A runner-up (Tuodong Stadium)

December 16

Final and Consolation Match
10:00am: Semifinal losers (Haigeng Training Center)
2:30pm: Semifinal winners (Tuodong Stadium)

Admission

As mentioned, all games held at the Haigeng Training Center are free and open to the public. The 2018 Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan International Football Tournament's first match between Shenyang Urban and Nurafshon Inter is also free to the first 500 people who apply by either calling (0871) 63122249 or scanning the QR Code at the bottom of this article. Call or scan now through December 6 (between 10am and 6pm) to get your free tickets! Ticketing information for the other games held at Tuodong Stadium will be released soon and GoKunming will update this article and leave a notice in the comments section below.