India's hopes of advancing to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers suffered a major setback as they were held to a goalless draw by Kuwait in a fifth-round Group A league match at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
With India having secured a 1-0 victory in the first round in Kuwait City last November, expectations were high for the national team to repeat that result at home and boost its qualification chances. However, India failed to replicate its previous performance, effectively dashing its World Cup qualification dreams in front of a massive turnout of 58,921 fans.
India, which remains on five points from as many matches, now faces a daunting task. It travels next to Doha to play its last match on June 11 against a formidable Qatar, which currently tops the group with a perfect record of four wins.
The match against Kuwait was largely uneventful, with India struggling to find its footing in attack. Indian head coach Igor Stimac employed a youthful attacking midfield featuring Liston Colaco, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Lallianzuala Chhangte to support captain Sunil Chhetri in attack. India made a few incursions inside the Kuwait box but failed to find the finishing touch to decisively beat the opponent goalkeeper, Sulaiman Abdulghafoor.
Kuwait, on the other hand, put in a more cohesive performance and troubled India on numerous occasions. Kuwait had the first chance in the fourth minute when its winger Mohammed Abdulah latched onto a through-pass and found himself unmarked inside the Indian box. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh came out of the line to salvage the situation for India.
India found its first chance in the 11th minute when Colaco darted into the Kuwait box before squaring the ball for an onrushing Chhetri. But the Kuwait defender Hasan Alenezi reacted first to clear the ball. India had a great chance to find the lead off the resultant corner, but defender Anwar Ali sent a free header over the crosspiece.
Stimac tried to overhaul the attack, introducing the likes of Rahim Ali, Manvir Singh, and Brandon Fernandes after the break, but that hardly helped the Indian cause as the host's finishing failed to reach the desired standard.
Tags: #soccer#India#Kuwait#WorldCup#sport#sports, event#Kolkata
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