BHUBANESWAR: India are unbeaten at home this year, but the biggest test is set to come on Tuesday when Igor Stimac's men take on Asian champions Qatar in their second match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 preliminary joint qualification Round 2 at Kalinga Stadium here.
Four years ago, on a warm September night, in a 2022 World Cup qualifiers outing against Qatar, a gritty India survived a wave of attacks to hold the powerhouse of Asian football to a goalless draw in Doha. The man who guided India from the sidelines was Stimac.
"It's a game, where there is nothing to lose for us but a lot to win for. So let's go for it all out," said Stimac at the pre-match press conference on Monday. "We scripted a winning start by defeating Kuwait, however, I told the boys to forget this game immediately, Save your energy from celebrating, being over-confident and getting into euphoria, we are going to make a fresh start again, the only thing for us to do is to give our best for 90 minutes when the first whistle sounds," he added.
Stimac spoke about the importance of being consistent when competing at a tournament as big as the World Cup qualifiers, which was something India lacked last time. Following that draw with Qatar, India were held 1-1 by both Bangladesh and Afghanistan, which ultimately hampered the Blue Tigers' bid to progress to Round 3.
Accompanying the Croatian in the press conference was goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who delivered one of the performances of his life, making 11 saves as India had held Qatar 0-0 in their own den in the World Cup qualifiers in 2019.
"Hopefully I have less work (this time)," he chuckled. "A maximum point with the least work possible is a goalkeeper's dream. I want the players in front of me to enjoy, get on the scoresheet and give us the win. The composition and competition among the players have changed a lot. It's not easy for anyone to get a permanent berth in the present national squad," he added.
While this is the senior Qatar team's first visit to India, coach Carlos Queiroz is here for the second time. He was the Iran coach when they won 3-0 in Bengaluru in the World Cup qualifiers in 2015.
"We will go for aggressive football not adventurous football against India at their home ground. Their team has progressed a lot in the past four years. We will demonstrate good football to grab three points. Being the best team you are going to play great football after the first game is not good enough for our players. They want more, play better and better in every match to come," said the Qatar coach during the pre-match press meet.