Igor Stimac, Indian men’s football team coach, on Thursday announced a list of 35 probables for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Afghanistan.
India are scheduled to play Afghanistan on 21 and 26 March, at Abha in Saudi Arabia and Guwahati respectively. The Afghanistan matches will be part of the Round 2 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Preliminary Joint Qualification and India currently have a strong chance of reaching the Round 2 of the qualifiers, something that they have never achieved in their history.
India began their campaign in the Round 2 of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with an away win against Kuwait. Manvir Singh scored the only goal of the match as India won the match 1-0 before suffering a 3-0 defeat to Asian champions Qatar in their second game, at home.
Currently India are in the third place with three points and one win from two matches. Qatar lead the table with six points and two wins, while Kuwait are second with one win as well. Afghanistan are last and have lost both their games so far, one against Qatar and another to Kuwait.
Here’s what India need to reach Round 3
The away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimac’s Blue Tigers in a strong position and the 117th side in FIFA rankings will be hoping for two wins against Afghanistan (FIFA rank: 158). Two wins will help India reach nine points and considering that table-toppers Qatar will be playing their next two matches against Kuwait and are expected to win both, India could jump to second position.