Kuala Lumpur : The Indian National Football Team have been drawn in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round 2 qualification against Qatar, Kuwait, and winners of the Round 1 match between Afghanistan and Mongolia. The draw was conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, July 27, 2023 at the AFC House.
Currently India, who are placed 99th in the FIFA Rankings, will face Qatar (59th), Kuwait (137th), and the winners of the match between Afghanistan (157th) and Mongolia (183rd).
The teams that finish in the top two positions in the qualification group will enter Round 3 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers, and get direct entry into the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
ꜰɪꜰᴀ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴄᴜᴘ 2026 ᴘʀᴇʟɪᴍɪɴᴀʀʏ ᴊᴏɪɴᴛ Qᴜᴀʟɪꜰɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʀᴏᴜɴᴅ 2 🤩👏🏽
ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ ᴀ
🇶🇦
🇮🇳
🇰🇼
🇦🇫 / 🇲🇳#FIFAWorldCup 🏆 #AsianCup2027 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/s2uCuzVI5j— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 27, 2023
After the draw, Blue Tigers head coach Igor Stimac said “It was a very busy and exciting day of football for us in India. Now that we know all the opponents, we can clearly say that we were successful against all these teams in the recent past.”
He also added, “I felt we were not lucky there and all these teams (in Group A), we’ve faced in recent times. We faced Qatar a long time ago, and have shown that even then we were successful against them,” he said. “I beg everyone in India, all the stakeholders, let’s start our meetings and planning, let’s do everything to make sure that the Indian Football Team get enough time to prepare so we can match these teams, outplay them on the pitch, and go through as the winners in the group.”
Group A: Qatar, India, Kuwait, WP1 (Afghanistan/Mongolia).
