Blue Tigers kept hopes of an AFC Asian Cup qualification alive, by drawing 1-1 against Afghanistan. The Blue Tigers progressed straight to the third qualifying round as a consequence and will soon learn their next set of opponents.
Indian Football Team’s quest to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup ended earlier this month after consecutive losses against Qatar and Oman. However, the Blue Tigers revived their chances of qualifying for the third round of Asian Cup Qualifiers by beating Bangladesh 2-0. Igor Stimac’s men knew that anything other than a loss against Afghanistan would secure their place in the next round, and subsequently, they drew their match.
India took the lead in the 75th minute through a truly bizarre own goal. They quickly worked the ball out to the left towards Ashique Kuruniyan. The winger sent his cross into the box, which seemed to derive a routine catch by the goalkeeper Ovays Azizi. However, Azizi somehow dropped the ball, which then went back through his legs and into the net.
Afghanistan equalized seven minutes later after some poor defending by India. Noor Husin picked up the ball on the left flank before being closed in by the Indian defenders. Husin somehow managed to come out on top in a 2v1 situation before playing the ball to Hossein Zamani inside the box. Zamani created space for himself to shoot from a tight angle but managed to curl the ball in at the far post. Nevertheless, Zamani’s goal wasn’t enough for Afghanistan to get what they needed from this match. They finished fourth, one point behind India.
India finished their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers/ 2023 AFC Asian Cup second round qualifiers on seven points. The Blue Tigers, however, won just one of their eight matches – a 2-0 win over Bangladesh earlier this month. They drew four, lost three, and finished with a goal difference of negative one. Nonetheless, Stimac’s men are through to the third round of qualifiers, which will begin in February 2022.
