Football
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | India vs Qatar: Preview, Indian team, When and Where to watch
India squares off against Qatar in a joint World Cup and AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Thursday and here is all the lowdown on the much anticipated game.
A still from India vs Qatar back in 2019 (Source: Reuters)
India resumes its 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a match against Qatar on Thursday night with a couple of games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan coming up on June 7 and June 15 respectively. The Blue Tigers currently sit 5th in Group E with three points from five games. While India's chances of qualification for the World Cup have all but disappeared, Sunil Chhetri and co. can still qualify directly for the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers if they finish third in the group.
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Match Preview
The Indian team will be bolstered by the return of captain Sunil Chhetri after he missed the friendlies against Oman and UAE earlier this year. Another factor that might help India's cause is the fact that a number of experienced players are returning to the side following the experimental squad that played in the aforementioned friendlies. The draw against Qatar in September 2019 should also provide motivation for the Indian players as they go about trying to do the impossible against the Asian champions who are ranked 58 in the world.
For Qatar, the Gulf nation has already qualified for the World Cup while the same for the Asian Cup is a matter of time. The side played three friendlies in March as part of their preparation for the qualifiers, winning against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan and drawing against Ireland. Once these qualifiers are done, they will be touring the US in July to participate in the Gold Cup.
Indian Team
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Narender Gehlot, Chinglensana Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Akash Mishra, Subhashish Bose.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Rowllin Borges, Glan Martins, Anirudh Thapa, Pronoy Halder, Suresh Singh, Apuia, Abdul Sahal, Yasir Md, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh, Ashique K.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Ishan Pandita.
India vs Qatar Venue
The match will be played in Doha's Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
When and where to watch India vs Qatar
The match kicks off at 10:30 pm IST and can be watched live on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3 and across the Star Network's regional channels. It can also be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV.
