The Blue Tigers have been drawn against Bangladesh, Oman, Afghanistan and Qatar in the second round of the Asian qualifiers…
The Indian national team are to embark on the round 2 qualification of the 2022 FIFA World Cup from Group E from 5 September 2019. It is set to be a joint preliminary qualification for the 2023 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Asian Cup as well.
Igor Stimac’s side have been drawn alongside Qatar, Oman, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Group E of the Asian Qualifiers in the draw held in Malaysia on Wednesday.
Here, Goal takes a look at how India has fared against their group opponents in the past.
v Oman
| Games won: | 1 |
| Games drawn: | 3 |
| Games lost: | 4 |
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Aug 1991 | Oman v India | D | 1-1 | Olympics |
| 21 Sep 1994 | Oman v India | W | 1-4 | Independence |
| 31 Mar 2004 | India v Oman | L | 1-5 | FIFA World Cup |
| 17 Nov 2004 | Oman v India | D | 0-0 | FIFA World Cup |
| 23 Feb 2012 | Oman v India | L | 5-1 | International Friendly |
| 11 Jun 2015 | India v Oman | L | 1-2 | FIFA World Cup |
| 13 Oct 2015 | Oman v India | L | 3-0 | FIFA World Cup |
| 27 Dec 2018 | India v Oman | D | 0-0 | International Friendly |
India’s best result in all of their FIFA World Cup qualifiers was a draw against Oman, way back in 2004. Their 2018 World Cup qualifiers under former coach Stephen Constantine who was in his second stint with the Blue Tigers both ended in defeats. The practice match ahead of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup was one of the most positive results in recent times.
| Games won: | 1 |
| Games drawn: | 0 |
| Games lost: | 1 |
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 1996 | Qatar v India | L | 6-0 | FIFA World Cup |
| 17 Jul 2011 | Qatar v India | W | 1-2 | International Friendly |
After their practice match that was supposed to be held in December 2010 as part of their preparations for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup was called off, India faced Qatar in another practice game in the following year to prepare for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Sunil Chhetri contributed by scoring the opener from the spot and former international Sushil Singh scored the eventual winner.
v Bangladesh 
| Games won: | 15 |
| Games drawn: | 11 |
| Games lost: | 2 |
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Dec 1978 | India v Bangladesh | W | 3-0 | Asian Games |
| 21 Nov 1982 | India v Bangladesh | W | 2-0 | Asian Games |
| 30 Mar 1985 | Bangladesh v India | W | 1-2 | FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 12 Apr 1985 | India v Bangladesh | W | 2-1 | FIFA World Cup qualifier |
| 25 Dec 1985 | Bangladesh v India | W | 1-1 (4-1 p) | South Asian Games |
| 6 Feb 1988 | Bangladesh v India | D | 0-0 | AFC Asian Cup |
| 15 Jun 1988 | India v Bangladesh | D | 0-0 | AFC Asian Cup |
| 23 Oct 1989 | Bangladesh v India | D | 1-1 | South Asian Games |
| 26 Dec 1991 | Bangladesh v India | L | 2-1 | South Asian Games |
| 14 Sep 1994 | India v Bangladesh | W | 4-2 | Independence |
| 31 Mar 1995 | Bangladesh v India | W | 0-0 (4-2 p) | SAFF Championship |
| 27 Dec 1995 | India v Bangladesh | W | 1-0 | International Friendly |
| 7 Sep 1997 | India v Bangladesh | W | 3-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 15 Oct 1998 | India v Bangladesh | D | 0-0 | South Asian Nations Cup |
| 22 Apr 1999 | India v Bangladesh | D | 0-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 1 May 1999 | India v Bangladesh | W | 2-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 2 Oct 1999 | India v Bangladesh | L | 0-1 | South Asian Games |
| 28 Nov 1999 | India v Bangladesh | D | 2-2 | AFC Asian Cup |
| 2 May 2000 | India v Bangladesh | D | 1-1 | Golden Jubilee Tournament |
| 29 Jul 2000 | India v Bangladesh | W | 1-0 | International Friendly |
| 27 Sep 2002 | India v Bangladesh | W | 3-0 | Asian Games |
| 18 Jan 2003 | Bangladesh v India | D | 1-1 | SAFF Championship |
| 12 Dec 2005 | India v Bangladesh | D | 1-1 | SAFF Championship |
| 17 Dec 2005 | India v Bangladesh | W | 2-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 20 Aug 2007 | India v Bangladesh | W | 1-0 | Nehru Cup |
| 11 Dec 2009 | Bangladesh v India | W | 0-1 | SAFF Championship |
| 3 Sep 2013 | Bangladesh v India | D | 1-1 | SAFF Championship |
| 5 Mar 2014 | India v Bangladesh | D | 2-2 | International Friendly |
The two SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) nations faced each other mostly in the SAFF Championship wherein India have an unbeaten record against Bangladesh. In fact, India has not faced a defeat in the last decade since their solitary goal defeat in the South Asian Games. Among World Cup qualification matches between the two countries in 1985, the Indian national team recorded 2-1 victories in both legs.
v Afghanistan 
| Games won: | 7 |
| Games drawn: | 2 |
| Games lost: | 1 |
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1951 | India v Afghanistan | W | 3-0 | Asian Games |
| 27 Aug 1959 | Afghanistan v India | W | 2-5 | Olympics |
| 24 Jul 1976 | Afghanistan v India | D | 1-1 | International Friendly |
| 12 Jan 2003 | Afghanistan v India | W | 0-4 | SAFF Championship |
| 30 Jul 2008 | India v Afghanistan | W | 1-0 | AFC Challenge Cup |
| 5 Dec 2009 | India v Afghanistan | W | 1-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 3 Dec 2011 | India v Afghanistan | D | 1-1 | SAFF Championship |
| 11 Dec 2011 | India v Afghanistan | W | 4-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 11 Sep 2013 | Afghanistan v India | L | 2-0 | SAFF Championship |
| 3 Jan 2016 | India v Afghanistan | W | 2-1 (a.e.t.) | SAFF Championship |
Like Bangladesh, Afghanistan has also faced India mostly in the SAFF Championship – thrice (2011, 2013 and 2016) in the title deciding clash of the competition and winning one of them. This will be the first time India and Afghanistan will be involved in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.
2022 World Cup Asian Qualifiers round 2 fixtures:
| Date | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2019 | India | Oman |
| 9 September 2019 | Qatar | India |
| 15 October 2019 | India | Bangladesh |
| 14 November 2019 | Afghanistan | India |
| 19 Novermber 2019 | Oman | India |
| 26 March 2020 | India | Qatar |
| 4 June 2020 | Bangladesh | India |
| 9 June 2020 | India | Afghanistan |
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