Gulf in class

Bhubaneswar, November 21

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India dished out a gritty display but suffered a 0-3 drubbing against Asian champions Qatar in their second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup second round qualifiers here today.

Qatar would have won by a bigger margin had they not missed several chances while dominating throughout the game at the Kalinga Stadium.

The visiting side scored through Moustafa Tarek Mashal (4th minute), Almeoz Ali (47th) and Yusuf Adurisag (86th).

India, who were seeking inspiration from their famous 0-0 draw against the same opponents four years ago, could barely create scoring chances. They did get a couple of opportunities near the end of the first half, but wasted them.

Igor Stimac’s team is still in contention to finish second in Group A and qualify for the third round for the first time after a 1-0 win over Kuwait in their away match on November 16.

The Indian defence was exposed quite early into the match as they conceded a goal in the fourth minute itself.

Off a corner, three Qatar players exchanged passes inside the Indian box but none of the home side defenders could touch the ball. Mashal then sent a low right-footed shot which beat goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, who was fielded in place of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, all ends up.

Akram Afif missed many chances which allowed India to go into the breather just one goal down. Afif failed to hit the target in the second minute with just the Indian goalkeeper in front of the post. He also failed to find the target in the 14th, 22nd and 26th minutes. Mashal’s free header was saved by Amrinder.

Their backs to the wall, India tried to hit on the counter and they got two fine chances, and could have restored parity from the second one. Then, Udanta Singh and Anirudh Thapa had a neat one-touch exchange of passes but Lalengmawia Ralte failed to direct his shot properly from the edge of the box.

Three minutes from the break, Thapa wasted an easier chance as he had only the Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham to beat after a defensive mistake. But Thapa somehow could only produce a weak low shot which missed the post by a wide margin.

If the closing minutes of the first half saw some fightback from India, Qatar nipped it in the bud by doubling the lead in the second minute of the second half with their prolific striker Ali finding the target. Ali had scored four goals in Qatar’s 8-1 hammering of Afghanistan in their previous match.

Thapa was taken off in the 63rd minute and Sahal Abdul Samad came in his place. Just two minutes later, Suresh Singh found him inside the Qatar box with a brilliant delivery but Samad’s left-footed shot was wide of the far post.

Four minutes from regulation time, Qatar made it 3-0 with Adurisag heading home a cross from Mohammed Albayati.

India next play Afghanistan at the neutral venue of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on March 21.

Son scores twice

Son Heung-min scored twice and set up the third as South Korea handed China a 3-0 defeat in Shenzhen to complete back-to-back wins at the start of their challenge for a place at the 2026 World Cup.

Son put the Koreans in front in the Group C clash in the second phase of Asia’s preliminaries with an 11th-minute penalty after Hwang Hee-chan had been fouled in the area, steering his spot kick low to the right of Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling.

He added the second in the final minute of the first half with a header that looped over Yan from the edge of the six-yard box following Lee Kang-in’s corner.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward turned provider three minutes from time when he drifted in a free kick from the right that Jung Seung-hyun headed past Yan to put the seal on the victory.

The win keeps the Koreans perfect after the first two games in the second round of Asia’s preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup and was China’s first defeat after winning against Thailand on Thursday.

The Thais bounced back from that loss to beat Singapore 3-1 loss with Suphanat Mueanta scoring twice in the second half for Mano Polking’s team, who move level with China on three points. — Agencies