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The Indian football team will play its remaining FIFA World Cup 2022/AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifier games in Qatar, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Friday.
Indian football team to play Qatar, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh
The Indian football team is placed fourth in Group E in the second round of qualifiers. The Blue Tigers started their campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 loss to Oman in Guwahati, before showing a resilient performance against Qatar, with a 0-0 draw in Doha.
After a decent start to their qualifying campaign, Igor Stimac's men showed lack of quality in the next three fixtures. With a 1-1 draw with Afghanistan, 1-0 loss to Oman, and a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh in Tajikistan, Muscat, and Kolkata respectively, they are all but out of contention to advance to Round 3.
The Indian football team will now play Qatar, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh in its remaining FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers Round 2 fixtures. All the games will be played between May 31 and June 15, 2021, in a centralized venue in Qatar in the wake of movement restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Indian football team's fixtures in Qatar
India vs Qatar: 3rd June 2021
Bangladesh vs India: 7th June 2021
India vs Afghanistan: 15th June 2021
The Indian football team will hope to get as many points as possible to finish third in the group and book a place directly into the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Round 3 qualifiers. A fourth or fifth-placed finish for India will take them to a play-off round before eventually qualifying for the Round 3 qualifiers of the continental competition.
FIFA World Cup 2022/AFC Asian Cup 2023 Round 2 qualifiers group stage venues at a glance
Group A - China PR: China PR, Syria, Philippines, Maldives, Guam
Group B - Kuwait: Australia, Jordan, Nepal, Chinese Taipei
Group C - Bahrain: Iraq, Bahrain, Iran, Hong Kong, Cambodia
Group D - Saudi Arabia: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Yemen, Palestine
Group E - Qatar: Qatar, Oman, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh
Group F - Japan: Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Mongolia
Group G - UAE: Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, UAE, Indonesia
Group H - Korea Republic: Turkmenistan, Korea Republic, Lebanon, North Korea, Sri Lanka
