2026 FIFA World Cup: Not so good after all

Sunil Chhetri stretches every sinew v Qatar yesterday. Pic/AIFF Twitter

India dished out a gritty display but suffered a 0-3 drubbing against dominant Asian champions Qatar in their second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup second round qualifiers here on Tuesday.

Qatar would have won by a bigger margin had they not missed several chances while dominating throughout the 90 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium. The visiting side scored through Moustafa Tarek Mashal (4th minute), Almeoz Ali (47th) and Yusuf Adurisag (86th).

Struggling India

India, who were seeking inspiration from their famous 0-0 draw against the same opponents four years ago, could barely create scoring chances. They did get a couple of opportunities at the fag end of the first half, but wasted them.

Igor Stimac's team is still in contention to finish second in Group A and qualify for the third round for the first time after a 1-0 win over Kuwait in their away match on November 16.

The Indian defence was exposed quite early into the match as they conceded a goal in the fourth minute itself.

Off a corner, three Qatar players exchanged passes inside the Indian box but none of the home side defenders could touch the ball. Moustafa Tarek Mashal then sent a low right-footed shot which beat goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, who was fielded by Igor Stimac in place of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, all ends up.

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Afif misses three chances

Akram Afif missed three chances which allowed India to go into the breather just one goal down. Afif failed to hit the target in the second minute with just the Indian goalkeeper in front of the post. He also failed to find the target in the 14th, 22nd and 26th minutes.

First goal scorer Mashal's free header was saved by Amrinder. Their backs to the wall, India tried to hit on the counter and they got two fine chances, and could have restored parity from the second one.

Then, Udanta Singh and Anirudh Thapa had a nice one-touch neat exchange of passes but Lalengmawia Ralte failed to direct his shot properly from the edge of the box.

Three minutes from the break, Thapa wasted an easier chance as he had only the Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham to beat after the ball landed on him following a defensive mistake. But Thapa somehow could only produce a weak low shot which missed the post by a wide margin.

If the fag end of the first half saw some fightback from India, Qatar nipped it in the bud by doubling the lead in the second minute of the second half with their prolific striker Almeoz Ali finding the target.

India next play their 2026 World Cup qualifiers match against Afghanistan at the neutral venue of Dushanbe, Tajikistan on March 21 next year.

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