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The Indian men's national team has been placed in Group A, alongside Qatar, India, Kuwait, and either Afghanistan or Mongolia, in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Joint Qualification, held on Thursday at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
With Qatar currently ranked 59th, Kuwait in the 139th spot, and both Afghanistan and Mongolia below 150, Sunil Chhetri and co. have a shot at finishing in the top two spots and qualifying for the third round.
Courtesy of a blistering run since the turn of the year, the Blue Tigers secured the 99th spot in the latest FIFA Rankings on July 20. More importantly, they managed to maintain their 18th spot in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Pot 2 for Round 2 of the World Cup Qualifiers.
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Even during the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, India were clubbed with Qatar and registered two historic results against the Middle Eastern heavyweights. The first match ended 0-0 while the Blue Tigers lost 1-0 in the reverse fixture despite being down to 10 men for a major chunk of the match.
Kuwait are also an opponent Sunil Chhetri and Co. will be familiar with, having faced them twice in the SAFF Championship recently. In the group stage, the two sides settled for a dramatic 1-1 stalemate, while in the final, thanks to Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's heroics in the shootout, the hosts reigned supreme.
Full draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Joint Qualifiers Round 2
Group A: Qatar, India, Kuwait, Afghanistan/Mongolia
Group B: Japan, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar/Macau
Group C: South Korea, China PR, Thailand, Singapore/Guam
Group D: Oman, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei/Timor-Leste
Group E: Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong/Bhutan
Group F: Iraq, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia/Brunei
Group G: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tajikistan, Cambodia/Pakistan
Group H: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen/Sri Lanka, Nepal/Laos
Group I: Australia, Palestine, Lebanon, Maldives/Bangladesh
