Why next three months are crucial for Indian football
economictimes.indiatimes.comSunil Chhetri, India’s football captain, once told this paper.
In that context, the next three months will be crucial for Indian football. India are scheduled to face Afghanistan (twice), Kuwait and Qatar in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the third qualifying round. If India could make it for the first time in history, the Blue Tigers will have the opportunity of playing five of Asia’s best teams twice within a one-year time frame. Ten games against quality teams could completely redefine the growth curve of Indian football.
“Every football player wants to get as close to the World Cup as he possibly can. In our case this is our best opportunity. We have never made it to the third round and we know this will open up 10 more games for us and we can then play each game as a final,” India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said.
On the other hand, if India fail to beat the lower-ranked Afghanistan and Kuwait and make the cut, it will be a huge setback football in the country.
With Afghanistan having called in a number of expats who are playing in Europe and having chosen Abha City in Saudi Arabia (March 21), which is at an altitude of 2270m for the game against India, the game will not be easy. Coach Igor Stimac will have to device an effective strategy to ward off the threat and then use the home game in Guwahati (March 26) to get the three crucial points. But more than the game against Afghanistan, it is the game against Kuwait in June that could decide
Agency probes Philadelphia fatal crash involving Ford that may have been running on automated system
