BHUBANESWAR: Qatar continued their winning start to Group A of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, beating India 3-0 at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
Moustafa Meshal, Almoez Ali and Yousuf Abdurisag scored for the Asian champions.
A win successive win that opened up a three point gap for Qatar at the top of the group, Carlo Queiroz’s men had brushed aside Afghanistan 8-1 in their opening match, while India came away from Kuwait with a valuable three points, winning 1-0 last week.
Qatar missed a golden opportunity inside the first two minutes when Akram Afif was found all alone six-yards out. However, he failed to convert and India survived the first real chance of the match.
Yet Afif’s blushes were spared just moments later. India failed to deal with a corner and Mostafa Meshaal took full advantage, hammering his strike home inside the box.
Afif was at the heart of Qatar’s attacks, and quick play with captain Hasan Al Haydos found him inside the box, only for his strike to be well blocked for a corner.
Wave after wave of attack continued for the visitors, including a free header from the goalscorer Meshaal, but they weren’t able to add to their tally before half-time.
With minutes until the half-time whistle, Qatar’s centre-back Boulalem Khoukhi carelessly gave the ball near his own area, but Anirirudh Thapa spurned his shot in what was India’s biggest and only chance of the half. (AFC)
