The Indian team shared the spoils with Afghanistan in their last encounter of the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. However, the 1-1 draw has not affected their group standings as they still end the qualifiers campaign in third position.
It was a cagey affair and the Blue Tigers had several clear cut chances but to Igor Stimac and the fans disappointment, none of them found their way on the back of the net. As the match went on a lot of people thought that it was going to end in a goalless draw but around the 75th minute, Afghanistan goalkeeper Ovays Azizi failed to gather a cross from the left flank and the ball ricocheted and went in, handing India the lead.
However, India failed to hold onto as the Afghans restored parity when youngster Hossein Zamani scored a fantastic curler leaving Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal completely helpless. However, the draw was enough for Igor Stimac’s men to secure a position in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers. The Asian Football Federation also came up with a confirmation that 22 teams have qualified for the final round of Asia’s biggest footballing tournament.
After the conclusion of the Preliminary Round of the join qualifiers,13 teams including the Asian cup host China and World Cup host Qatar have cemented their place in the continental quadrennial tournament. The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 16 to July 16, 2023.
Therefore three lowest second place finishing teams and all eight third and fourth placed Groups A to H, as well as three best fifth-placed teams – 22 teams in total have qualified for the final round of Qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup. Apart from these 22 teams, there are another four teams who will play it out against each other in the playoffs to decide which teams go through to the final round of the qualifiers. The playoffs will be played over two legs on September 7 and October 12, 2021, with the draw to be held on June 24, 2021.
The four playoffs teams include the likes of Indonesia, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei and Guam.
