India Go Down 1-2 to Qatar in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers as Referee Blunder Costs Blue Tigers

India went down 1-2 to Qatar in their second round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification fixture at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday.

Lallia­nzuala Chhangte put the Blue Tigers ahead in the first half, but Qatar found their way back with two second-half strikes, one of which was due to a blunder from the officials.

Qatar found the back of the net to level in the 73rd minute of the game as Qatar put the ball into the back of the net after the ball had clearly gone out of bounds before Ahmed Al Rawi beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from outside the box to give the hosts the win.

India had to win the game in order to secure a historic qualification to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and were on track as Chhangte got the final touch on a brilliant Brandon Fernandes ball into the danger area in the 37th minute of the game.

India went into the break with a slender lead and seemed to have good value for it.

Igor Stimac’s men held up well in the second half too and seemed like they were headed for a winning show before an absolute blunder from the officials cost the Blue Tigers.

In the 73rd minute of the game, the ball which had clearly gone past the limits of play was pulled back in by a Qatari player for Al Hasmeni Al Hussein as Youssef Ayman tapped it into the back of an empty net.

The Indian unit rose up in protest, but the cries fell on deaf ears as the linesman and the official has let one slide right under their nose.

India looked spirit despite the calamitous error, as they surged ahead looking for a goal to reestablish the lead that would have carried them into the next round, but were left heartbroken as Ahmed Al Rawi, who had a forgettable showing on the day up until the 85th minutes beat the Indian custodian from outside the area to give his sie the win and shatter the hopes of the Indian faithful.