Powerhouse: Qatar stays on prime of Group A after a dominating present towards India.
| Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT
Qatar introduced up a pleasant essay of attacking soccer to suppress India’s aspirations by a 3-0 scoreline in Group A’s second-round match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and Asian Cup 27 qualifiers at the Kalinga Stadium right here on Tuesday.
The Blue Tigers failed to invoke the required challenge that would unsettle the may and status of the reigning Asian champion.
Making 5 modifications to the squad that began towards Kuwait, India didn’t discover a lot house as the customer went into assault mode proper from the begin.
Manvir Singh, the objective scorer in the opening match, was absent with a sprained muscle as India head coach Igor Stimac chosen 5 gamers from the bench – Subhasish Bose, Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Udanta Singh and goalkeeper Amrinder Singh — to check out a brand new mixture at dwelling.
India conceded in the fourth minute as an unprepared defence failed to clear on time, permitting Qatar ahead Mustafa Meshaal to discover the net with a grounder from inside the field.
The customer discovered a pair extra probabilities in the first quarter of the motion however centreback Sandesh Jhingan and Amrinder have been alert in the field to block the marauding Qataris from including one other one to the tally.
India tried to tidy its sport late in the opening half, launching assaults by way of the flanks. The first good probability for the host got here in the fortieth minute when Chhangte set a pointy cross on the Qatar goalmouth however the latter’s defence cleared earlier than Udanta might make a strive. Two minutes later, Thapa shot huge of an open objective to lengthen India’s frustration.
The change of ends didn’t assist India as it conceded the second instantly in the forty sixth minute off an Almoez Ali effort. The Indian attackers tried a couple of extra offensive forays in the Qatar field however all their efforts remained abortive. Substitute Yusuf Abdurisag made it 3-0 in the 86th minute to full a well-earned victory for the customer.
The outcome: India 0 misplaced to Qatar 3 (Mustafa Meshaal 4, Almoez Ali 46, Yusuf Abdurisag 86).
