Controversial ending against Qatar apart, India paid the price for not beating Afghanistan in the two chances they had. A match-by match recap of stimac’s men at WCQ. India’s best-ever chance to go into the 3rd round of the 2026 FIFA World cup qualifiers, when the main tournament has expanded to a 48-team event, came, hit on Tuesday. They had failing to make an positive impact in their group of Kuwait, Qatar, and Afghanistan during the second round. Their last match against Qatar may have ended synonyms, but it was their overall presentation throughout the group stage that led to their resettlement.
16th November 2023 Vs Kuwait
First match of India of the world cup qualifiers was against Kuwait basically; stimac’s team was in race against Kuwait to be the 2nd team to qualify from Group A along with Qatar.
What happened
A 75th minute goal from Manvir Singh broke the deadlock and gave the India win. It gave hope that India’s debut appearance in the 3rd round of the world cup qualifiers was a go.
Stimac stated “I am not surprised by the outcome, but I always maintain respect for our opponents. However, I have complete confidence in our team and their abilities,”
21th November 2023 Vs Qatar
A Game against Asian champions was always be strong outcome. Specially while Qatar were deep into their composition to defend their AFC Asian cup.
What happened
Qatar scored in within the first five minutes of the first half and second half and then scored in the 86th minute to complete a 3-0 win against India, but one win out of two game have been something Stimac would have taken before the start.
What Stimac said
“Qatar were better team as they have passing quality, they have basic skill and physically fit. It’s all there. It’s really difficult to play Vs them but I appreciate our boy’s commitment ” stimac told.” The result was not my priority today” he added.
27th March 2024 Vs Afghanistan
India needed this win to ensure that their chance in third round was still in their hands. India thanks to a sunil Chhetri penalty kick in the 38th minute. Up to 70th minute they held onto that lead. The visitors then received a penalty in the 88th minute which they took for a popular win.
What Stimac said
“Yes we lost the game of course. I accept the responsibility. I am the coach at the end of the day. But we are 2nd in our group. We are playing decent football. As I said two days ago, we are going to qualify.” Stimac told.
6th June 2024 Vs Kuwait
Sunil Chhetri’s final International game added an extra motive for Indian team to take the win versus Kuwait. This game came with all the pressure that India had deservedly piled onto themselves as observe that their last game would be versus Qatar.
What happened
India missed the chance. And now only a win versus Qatar would chance to India a spot in the 3rd round.
What Stimac said
” Now, we can understand how much we miss beating Afghanistan. We can now see how important it is that we are on top of our game and win points in the game we are expected to gain points from” Stimac told.
11th June 2024 Vs Qatar
A series of missed chances led to this must-win game against the defending Asian Champions. The group led for their part, had already qualified for the next round and had selected 2nd-string team.
What happened
India lead at half-time by a goal and they were playing well but when it like victory was theirs, a controversial goal which was not allowed was given to Qatar. And after 12 minutes they scored again to take the lead and knock India out of the World cup qualifiers.
What Stimac said
” I am not looking for an excuse, but when you have 25 boys working very hard and living the dream to achieve something and you get that dream killed because you didn’t make sure to stop such things from happening that is not something the coaches or players should work on” Stimac told.