Bolstered by the return of Jeakson Singh and Anwar Ali, the Indian football team will renew its quest for a maiden entry into the third round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers when it faces a weakened Afghanistan on Thursday. With mid-field general Jeakson and centre-back Anwar back in the line-up after long injury layoffs, because of which India suffered in recent past, the Blue Tigers will fancy their chances against the lower-ranked opponents in the second-round preliminary joint qualification match.
With three points and one win from two matches, India currently occupy the second place in the Group A pecking order. Reigning Asian champions Qatar lead the standings with six points from two wins, while Kuwait are second with one win. Having lost both their games so far, Afghanistan are placed last.
India’s away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimac’s team in a strong position to progress further in the qualification cycle, something the 117-ranked side has never achieved. Victories in their upcoming outings (away and home) against the 158-ranked Afghanistan will help India acquire nine points and with Qatar expected to win their next two matches against Kuwait, the Blue Tigers have a real chance of jumping to second place in the standings. (UEFA Champions League 2024 Draw: Real Madrid Face Manchester City; PSG Get FC Barcelona In Quarterfinals, Check Full List Here)
India defeated Kuwait (1-0) in Kuwait City in their opening match of the qualifiers, before losing to Qatar (0-3) in Bhubaneswar. Since their first-ever meeting way back in 1949, India and Afghanistan have met regularly and the regional rivalry has not run its course even after the latter left SAFF in 2016. The face-off continued in the World Cup Qualifiers, Asian Cup Qualifiers and other continental and invitational tournaments, with India having their nose ahead on most occasions.
Checkout the livestreaming details of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Game Between India and Afghanistan:
Where is the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers game between Afghanistan and India taking place?
The FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match between Afghanistan and India will be played at the Damac Stadium, Abha, Saudi Arabia, on 22 March 2024 (Friday).
When will the FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between Afghanistan and India be played?
The FIFA World Cup Qualifier match will be played at 12:30 AM IST.
Where will the FIFA World Cup Qualifier game between Afghanistan and India be telecasted?
The FIFA World Cup Qualifier game will be telecasted on the DD Sports TV channel.
Where will the FIFA World Cup Qualifier game between Afghanistan and India be live-streamed?
The FIFA World Cup Qualifier game will be live-streamed on FanCode.
Nevertheless, the Afghans have always been a difficult opposition to overcome, fighting till the final whistle. Nobody in this Indian squad can tell about Afghanistan better than the evergreen Sunil Chhetri, who is going strong at 39 and will be spearheading the visiting attack alongside Manvir Singh, who found the net in the team’s win against Kuwait.
Chhetri’s record against the neighbours is quite impressive, scoring four goals in eight matches including a spectacular strike from a free kick in Kolkata in 2022.
“They have progressively improved from when we met them for the first time,” said Chhetri.
“The games were comfortable, but slowly and steadily, they progressed. And because of being in the same region, the rivalry also generated. Hence, the games became quite close. Both India and Afghanistan have improved in the last decade or so. Having players who play outside has really helped them,” he added.
While Sunil Chhetri remains his biggest player, Stimac should be no less thrilled with the return of Jeakson and Anwar. Jeakson has played a pivotal role for the Blue Tigers in the last two years, and featured in 17 consecutive matches from the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in June 2022 until the King’s Cup in Thailand last September. His importance can be gauged by Stimac labelling him as one of the biggest misses in the squad for the Asian Cup in Qatar.
What also makes India favourites in the game is the absence of some key Afghanistan players, who have been at loggerheads with the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) since accusing the sport body of indulging in corruption, including match-fixing.
As the second round of qualifiers started, problems between the Afghanistan players and the AFF started growing. As many as 18 players boycotted the qualifiers against Kuwait and Qatar, leaving the side with few first-team players for the outing against Mongolia, whom the Lions of Khorasan defeated to progress to the second round. Still, players such as Zohib Islam Amiri, Omid Musawi and Balal Arezou will look to cause problems for India.
The results against Kuwait and Qatar in June will be the real indicator of the Indian football team’s prospects of making a maiden appearance in the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, head coach Igor Stimac said on Wednesday.
“Each game is important from the aspect of self-confidence and rankings. But our priority and the final goal is to qualify for Round 3. There are various options to get there and obviously, nothing will be decided in the next two games. The matches in June against Kuwait and Qatar will tell us everything,” Stimac said.
This will be the fourth time in five years that India will face Afghanistan in an official match. The two meetings in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2019 and 2021 ended 1-1 each, while India ran out 2-1 winners in the Asian Cup Qualifiers in 2022 in Kolkata, thanks to Sahal Abdul Samad’s added-time strike.
The Indians arrived here on March 15 and have had five full training sessions ahead of the match, acclimatising to the conditions in the mountain city, which is 2,470 metres above sea level.
“We have been training normally as usual. We came here earlier so the boys can adapt to the different climate in Abha, and things look okay at the moment,” said the Croat.
Stimac’s counterpart and Afghanistan head coach Ashley Westwood knows Indian football all too well, having coached Bengaluru FC, ATK, and RoundGlass Punjab FC. He took charge of the Afghanistan national team last November, right before the World Cup Qualifiers kicked off.
“Ashley knows most of our boys quite well and has been preparing his team for us since the Asian Cup,” said Stimac.
“A few months back they had a camp in Abha to work on their game plan and played a friendly with a local team here. But we are sure they will be a much better side than what we have seen in their opening games,” he added.
India skipper Sunil Chhetri, who won two I-League titles and a Federation Cup playing under Westwood at Bengaluru FC, shared his thoughts on the Afghanistan side.
“They will play like a unit, they will be aggressive, they will know exactly what they have to do because that’s how Ashley Westwood is. But I think it’s more about us. We are here right in the corner of Saudi Arabia and we really have to bounce back after what happened in the Asian Cup. It’s not going to be easy. We have to turn up,” said Chhetri.
With three points and one win from two matches, India currently occupy the second place in the Group A pecking order. Reigning Asian champions Qatar lead the Group A standings with six points from two wins, while Kuwait are second with one win. Having lost both their games so far, Afghanistan are placed last.
India’s away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimac’s team in a strong position to progress further in the qualification cycle, something the 117-ranked side has never achieved.
Victories in their upcoming outings (away and home) against the 158-ranked Afghanistan will help India acquire nine points and with Qatar expected to win their next two matches against Kuwait, the Blue Tigers have a real chance of jumping to second place in the standings. India defeated Kuwait (1-0) in Kuwait City in their opening match of the qualifiers, before losing to Qatar (0-3) in Bhubaneswar.
