The Indian Football Team has been drawn with Qatar, Kuwait, and the winner of the pairing between Afghanistan and Mongolia for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, Canada and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The qualifying rounds are scheduled to start on November 16th of this year.
ꜰɪꜰᴀ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴄᴜᴘ 2026 ᴘʀᴇʟɪᴍɪɴᴀʀʏ ᴊᴏɪɴᴛ Qᴜᴀʟɪꜰɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʀᴏᴜɴᴅ 2 🤩👏🏽
ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ ᴀ
🇶🇦
🇮🇳
🇰🇼
🇦🇫 / 🇲🇳#FIFAWorldCup 🏆 #AsianCup2027 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/s2uCuzVI5j— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 27, 2023
After Qatar (59), India is the second-highest ranked team in the group (99). Kuwait (137) and the winner of the match between Afghanistan (157) and Mongolia (183) are the other teams against whom India will play.
Read More: AFC Preliminary Draw Round 2 for FIFA World Cup 2026
After the draw Indian Football Team Head Coach Igor Stimac said:
“It was a very busy and exciting day of football for us in India. Now that we know all the opponents, we can clearly say that we were successful against all these teams in the recent past.
“I felt we were not lucky there and all these teams (in Group A), we’ve faced in recent times. We faced Qatar a long time ago, and have shown that even then we were successful against them,”
“I beg everyone in India, all the stakeholders, let’s start our meetings and planning, let’s do everything to make sure that the Indian Football Team get enough time to prepare so we can match these teams, outplay them on the pitch, and go through as the winners in the group.”
🇮🇳 Sr. National Team Head Coach @stimac_igor shares his thoughts on the #19thAsianGames and the Joint #FIFAWorldCup and #AsianCup2027 Qualifiers 🏆🤩 Groups, announced today 👏🏽#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/OwlJquryC8
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 27, 2023
