FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India go down 1-0 to Qatar after Abdel Aziz’s solitary goal in Doha

Qatar’s Abdel Aziz scored the solitary goal of the FIFA World Cup qualifier in the 33rd minute as the Asian champions defeated 10-man India 1-0 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Thursday. Aziz fired in a shot with his left foot from close range to beat Gurpreet Singh as Men in blue suffered their third defeat of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers.

Gurpreet Singh, however, came with a superlative effort in the goal as the India shot-stopper made 9 crucial saves. Coach Igor Stimac seems to be happy with his boys’ performance, given they did not have the ideal buildup to the big Qatar game due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Indian football team was down to 10 men in the 17th minute of the game as Rahul Bheke was sent off after picking two yellow cards. It was always going to be difficult against a team of Qatar’s caliber but going down to 10 men made it even more daunting for men in blue in the first half. Offensively, this was a better match for India compared to their previous one against Qatar. Now the team should look to collect six points against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

India vs Qatar, FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: Highlights

Manvir Singh also missed out on two good chances to score for India as Gurpreet Singh was kept busy by the Qatar attackers. India brought in Udanta Singh replacing the captain, Sunil Chhetri in the second half. Gurpreet had a good second half, making some fine saves, but India could not get the equaliser and suffered another defeat.

| Abdulaziz Hatem scores the opening goal for Qatar #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/95zG2dsTSS

— Qatar Football Association (@QFA_EN) June 3, 2021

Placed in the Group E of the qualifiers, India now have only three points from six matches while Asian champions Qatar lead the table with 19 points from seven games while Oman are second with 12 points from five matches. Igor Stimac’s men will take on Bangladesh and Afghanistan on June 7 and 15, respectively, at the same venue.