The Indian men's football team is set to take on Kuwait, the winner of Afghanistan vs Mongolia and Qatar after being placed in Group A for the AFC FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers Round 2. The draw for the first and second rounds of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, Canada and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia were announced at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
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The 2026 edition of the World Cup will include 48 teams for the first time forty-five AFC-affiliated nations will battle it out to reach the global tournament. The World Cup qualification process will have five rounds out of which the first two rounds will also act as the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Blue Tigers are in pot 2 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier as the 18th-ranked team in the continent. Being part of pot 2 of the World Cup qualifiers allows India to avoid the Asian teams ranked between 10 and 17.
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But Team India will face one of the top eight teams from Pot 1 and take on two other teams ranked lower than India from Pots 3 and 4. Hence India will be taking on Kuwait, the winner of Afghanistan vs Mongolia and Qatar after being placed in Group A.
