Tomorrow sees the opening of one of the biggest blind football events of the year – the inaugural IBSA Blind Football World Grand Prix will begin in Tokyo, Japan, at Shinagawa Tennozu Park.

The elite tournament brings together six of the world's very best blind football teams, all ranked in the top 15 of the recently-updated IBSA Blind Football World Ranking Table.

Group A includes hosts Japan (ranked 9th), Turkey (6th) and England (12th), while Group B pits world number 2 team Argentina against Russia (13th) and France (14th).

All the matches from the tournament, organised by the Japan Blind Football Association, can be viewed live on the association's Youtube channel.

In addition to the elite event, a development tournament involving three teams – Belgium (ranked 21st), India (29th) and the Japan National Training Centre – will also be held. 

Following the opening ceremony, the tournament kicks off tomorrow with hosts Japan facing England in the first match at 14:00 local time. Argentina takes on Russia at 16:30 and the Japan National Training Centre and India will open the development tournament at 19:15.

Caption: fixture list for the IBSA Blind Football World Grand Prix 2018. See below for text version.

Full fixture list

Wednesday March 21st

14:00 Elite Japan vs England
16:30 Elite Argentina vs Russia
19:15 Development Japan National Training Centre vs India

Thursday March 22nd

12:00 Development Belgium vs India
16:30 Elite Turkey vs England
19:15 Elite France vs Russia

Friday March 23rd

12:00 Development Belgium vs Japan National Training Centre
16:30 Elite Argentina vs France
19:15 Elite Japan vs Turkey

Saturday March 24th

11:00 Development India vs Belgium
14:00 Development India vs Japan National Training Centre
16:30 Elite 5th-6th place play-off

Sunday March 25th

11:00 Development Japan National Training Centre vs Belgium
14:00 Elite 3rd-4th place play-off
16:30 Elite final

The IBSA Blind Football World Grand Prix will be held initially for three years in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Follow IBSA Blind Football on Facebook.

@IBSAB1Football.

Follow the Japan Blind Football Association on Facebook.

Caption: IBSA Blind Football World Grand Prix 2018 banner.