Don't Miss

India's CWG 2026 Medal Tally Lowest In 24 Years, Yet Among The Best

Tactical Self-Destruction: How England Threw Away Their World Cup Final Dream

Bundesliga Blueprint: How Zee Plans To Complete India's Football Jigsaw

Manuel Neuer Doesn't Know Where To Stop: Not On The Pitch, Not In His Career

Advertisement

ENG

Login

Dark / Light mode

Oct 10,2026 09:13 AM IST

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India Face Daunting Task Against Hosts Qatar In Second Leg

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

Settings

Select Language

Dark / Light mode

Search

Football

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Live Cricket Matches

India Matches

IPL 2026

Football Matches

ISL

EPL

All Matches

India Matches

EPL

Sports Home Football News FIFA World Cup Qualifiers India Face Daunting Task Against Hosts Qatar In Second Leg

Related Articles

Story ProgressBack to home

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India Face Daunting Task Against Hosts Qatar In Second Leg

Indian men's football team take on hosts Qatar in the second-leg match of the joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers in Doha on Thursday.

Read Time: 3 min

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

reddit

E-mail

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India Face Daunting Task Against Hosts Qatar In Second Leg

Indian men's football team will play against Qatar in WC qualifying round match.© Twitter/Indian Football Team

Highlights

Their preparation was far from ideal but India would take inspiration from the draw against Asian champions Qatar in 2019 when they face the same opponents in the second-leg match of the joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers in Doha on Thursday. India had held mighty Qatar 0-0 in September 2019 here, a result considered as one of the best for the side in recent times. But India are playing their home match here as the Qatari capital was chosen as the centralised venue for all the remaining Group E matches after the qualifiers were halted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

India's performance, however, has gone south since then while Qatar, the group toppers, have come into Thursday match on a high.

They beat Luxembourg (1-0) and Azerbaijan (2-1) and played out a 1-1 draw against Ireland in the international friendly matches in March.

India are coming into this match after a demoralising 0-6 drubbing against the UAE in an international friendly in March.

On top of that, India's preparation has been hit hard as they had to cancel a national camp scheduled in early May in Kolkata. The team reached here on May 19 only to find that the players would not get the facilities they would have wanted.

Stimac himself had expressed the frustration, saying that it was "not an ideal preparation" for the World Cup qualifiers. On the positive side, Stimac will have the chance to field a full strength Indian team after a long time with all the core players available for selection and without injury concern.

That 2019 match against Qatar did not have talisman Sunil Chhteri due to a viral fever and his return will surely boost the confidence of the young Indian side. Chhetri also missed the two international friendlies in March, including the one against UAE, as he was recovering from COVID-19 infection.

But there will be gulf is class between the two sides. Qatar are ranked 58th in the FIFA chart against India's 105th.

"Qatar are one of the top teams in Asia. They have had some decent results against top European and South American teams in the recent past," Chhetri said.

"The last time we took a point against them makes us confident as a team. We understand that they will come out all guns blazing at us, and we need to stick together as a team," he added.

In that drawn game in 2019 also, Qatar dominated throughout with waves of attacks on the Indian citadel. It was to the credit of goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan-led defence that stood tall to deny the Qataris a win.

Currently fourth in Group E with three points from five matches, India are already out of reckoning for a World Cup berth but still in contention for the 2023 Asian Cup.

Qatar have won five out of their six matches in these qualifiers. Boasting of a lethal attacking line-up with top striker Almoez Ali and Hasan Al-Haydos leading the pack, Qatar would be looking at nothing less than a convincing win.

India (From): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Narender Gehlot, Chinglensana Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Akash Mishra, Subhashish Bose, Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Rowllin Borges, Glan Martins, Anirudh Thapa, Pronoy Halder, Suresh Singh, Lalengmawia Ralte, Abdul Sahal, Yasir Mohammad, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Ishan Pandita, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh.

Match Starts: 10:30pm IST.

Featured Video Of The Day

Spain's Royal Family Welcomes World Cup Champions To Zarzuela Palace

Topics mentioned in this article

India Football Team India Football

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.

Advertisement

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Advertisement

Advertisement

Players - Top Goals

Player Matches Goals Haaland Haaland Manchester City 5 5 Isak Isak Liverpool 5 4 Groß Groß Brighton & Hove Albion 5 3 B. Fernandes B. Fernandes Manchester United 5 3 Marcus Tavernier Marcus Tavernier AFC Bournemouth 5 3

Player Matches Assists Groß Groß Brighton & Hove Albion 5 3 Daichi Daichi Crystal Palace 5 3 Gakpo Gakpo Liverpool 5 3 Semenyo Semenyo Manchester City 5 3 Francisco Evanilson Francisco Evanilson AFC Bournemouth 5 3

No Teams MP Goals GA 1 Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion 5 16 5 2 Manchester City Manchester City 5 13 5 3 Brentford Brentford 5 10 4 4 Chelsea Chelsea 5 10 12 5 Newcastle United Newcastle United 5 9 9

No Teams MP Goals Assists 1 Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion 5 16 11 2 Manchester City Manchester City 5 13 10 3 Chelsea Chelsea 5 10 9 4 Newcastle United Newcastle United 5 9 8 5 Arsenal Arsenal 5 8 6

Full Stats

Full Stats

Full Stats

Full Stats

Now Trending

Advertisement

Trending Links

Follow us on:

facebook

twitter

Cricket

Football

More Sports

Formula 1 Tennis Hockey Badminton Golf Nba Kabaddi Shooting Swimming Table Tennis

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics © Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2026. All rights reserved.