New Delhi, The Indian football team suffered a 0-3 defeat against Asian champions Qatar in their second match of the second round of qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Indian team tried to give competition to Qatar in this Group A match, but the visiting team maintained its dominance for the entire 90 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium here. Mustafa Tarek Mashal (4th minute), Almeoz Ali (47th minute) and Yusuf Adurisagh (86th minute) scored goals for Qatar. The Indian team had held Qatar to a goalless draw in their home ground 4 years ago. The team came on the field taking inspiration from that match, but could barely create a few chances to score goals.

India had two chances at the end of the first half, but the team wasted them. The Indian team, which defeated Kuwait 1-0 on November 16 in its opening match of the second round of the qualifiers, has a chance to qualify for the next round by finishing second in the group. The Indian defense was exposed in the very beginning of the match. The team conceded a goal in the fourth minute itself. On the corner kick, 3 Qatar players exchanged passes inside the Indian box, but no defender of the home team could touch the ball. Mashal opened the team's account by hitting goalkeeper Amrinder Singh with a ground kick with his right foot. Coach Stimac had given a chance to Amrinder in place of experienced Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. After this, Akram Afif missed 3 chances, due to which the Indian team was saved from falling behind by a big margin. Afif, after missing an easy chance to score in the second minute, missed to increase the team's goal difference in the 14th, 22nd and 26th minutes.
Before the intermission, the Indian team created 2 chances, in which the team narrowly missed the equalizer on the second chance. Almeoz Ali's goal at the beginning of the second half took the team's lead to 2-0. Ali had scored 4 goals for the team in the 8-1 victory against Afghanistan. In the 63rd minute of the match, Sahal Abdul Samad entered the field in place of Thapa. After 2 minutes, he had a chance to open the team's account, but he failed to capitalize on the opportunity created by Suresh Singh. Adurisag scored on Mohammed Albayati's cross in the 86th minute of the match to put Qatar ahead 3-0. The Indian team is to play its next match in the 2026 World Cup Qualifier against Afghanistan on 21 March 2024.