Credit: X
In their last match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers second round against Qatar on Tuesday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, India faced a frustrating loss, courtesy of a controversial goal. With this defeat, the Blue Tigers ended their qualification hopes for the World Cup in United States, Mexico, and Canada. The controversial equaliser by Qatar sparked an outrage on social media with "cheating" trending on X.
India took a 1-0 lead in the match in the 37th minute as Lallianzuala Chhangte scored after Brandon Fernandes's mishit shot fell nicely into his path. India finished the first half with a one-goal lead, however, a controversial goal from Yousef Aymen helped Qatar to equalise the game in the 73rd minute. While Ahmed Al-Rawi's 85th minute goal ended India's FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification dream.
Qatar's equaliser sparked reactions on social media as the ball clearly appeared to cross the endline before Al Hashmi Al Hussain Mohi Aldin pulled it back for Yousef Aymen to score an open goal. While India lost the game against Qatar, Kuwait defeated Afghanistan to go on the second spot and qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers third round.
The controversial Qatar goal that led their comeback win against Team India, sparked an outrage on social media with fans calling out the match officials while others terming the incident as "cheating". Check the viral reactions on X:
Ahead of the match, India were placed second with five points in five matches as they won a game, and shared two losses and draws each. A win against Qatar would have confirmed their qualfication to the third round, however, the officials lack of awareness helped the hosts score an equaliser that waved Indian side's belief, who conceded another goal with just five minutes remaining in the match.
