AFC World Cup Qualifiers: India starts round 2 with a convincing 1-0 win over Kuwait

New Delhi: The Indian football team have started their round 2 campaign of AFC (Asian Football Confederation) World Cup qualifiers with a convincing 1-0 win over the Kuwait national team.

India’s left-winger Manvir Singh scored a beautiful goal in the 75^th minute of the match, which proved more than enough for the Tigers to seal off the game.

The AFC World Cup qualifiers round 2 is also the qualification round for the AFC 2027 Asian Cup.

India, who are ranked 102 in the FIFA ranking, were the favourites to win the match against the 136-ranked Kuwait, with both ranking and form on their side.

Indian Tigers are enjoying a great year in 2023, with already two international trophies this year.

India won the Intercontinental Cup after defeating Lebanon 2-0 in the finals, in June earlier this year, followed by SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship victory after beating Kuwait 5-4 in the penalty shoot-out after settling with 1-1 in the regulation time in the finals.

Indian Tigers are placed in ‘Group A,’ alongside Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan, with the chance to round 3 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualification online.

India will be up against the 61 in FIFA rankings, Qatar, in their second match of round 2 of the qualifiers on November 21 at Bhubaneshwar.

AFC Qualifiers format

36 teams have qualified for round 2 of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers. These teams are divided into 9 groups of 4 teams.

INDIA 🇮🇳defeated KUWAIT 1-0, in their home ground in the FIFA WC 2023 AFC Qualifiers,

Mesmerizing seens from Kuwait as India wins FIFA World Cup qualifying game in 22 years pic.twitter.com/zgpU64tV7v

— 🐎ᴬˢʰʷᵃᵐᵉᵈʰᵃ🐎 (@_Ashwamedha) November 17, 2023

The 9 winners and 9 runner-ups from each group will qualify for round 3, while the remaining 18 teams will be eliminated from the race.

The 18 teams who will qualify for round 3 will then be divided into 3 groups of 6 teams, with winners and runner-ups from all three groups qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The 3^rd and 4^th placed teams will then have to play the final round of the qualification while the bottom two teams from each group will be eliminated from the race.

The final call

Indian Football Team wins 1-0 against Kuwait gets that 3 points in its 1st match in this Fifa World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Good days ahead for the football team, hope it qualifies for the Fifa World Cup in the North America. #KUWIND #IndianFootballTeam #IndianFootball #ManvirSingh pic.twitter.com/KNKEtNoTqM

— Yash Sharma (@MrYashSharma) November 16, 2023

The 3^rd and 4^th placed teams from 3 groups of round three will then be divided into 2 groups of 3 teams, and play against the other teams of their group in a round-robin format.

The two winners of these two groups will go on to join the earlier qualified 6 teams at the football’s grandest stage, while the remaining 4 teams will again be eliminated from the race, putting the final curtains on their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.