India go down 1-2 to lower-ranked Afghanistan

In his landmark game, Chhetri found the back of the net from the spot in the 37th minute after Haroon Amiri handled the ball inside the box in India’s home leg match in the second round of the joint qualifiers for the World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup

Lower-ranked Afghanistan shocked India 2-1 as the home team suffered one of its most embarrassing defeat in recent years despite talisman Sunil Chhetri’s 94th international goal in his 150th match, in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers here on Tuesday.

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In his landmark game, Chhetri found the back of the net from the spot in the 37th minute after Haroon Amiri handled the ball inside the box in India’s home leg match in the second round of the joint qualifiers for the World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Attacking on the counter with three strikers upfront, Afghanistan equalised as Rahmat Akbari restored parity in the 71st minute. Disaster struck the Indians when a charging Gurpreet Singh was shown a yellow card and Sharif Mukhammad converted the resultant penalty (88th min) to give his team a 2-1 lead. 

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