Igor Stimac’s side will face Philippines in a practice game as preparation for their upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Doha…
The Indian national team is all set to play a practice match against Philippines as preparation ahead of their 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers which will be held in Qatar next month, Goal can confirm.
The Blue Tigers have already flown to Doha to play their remaining World Cup 2022 qualifying games. They resume their campaign on June 3 against hosts Qatar followed by Bangladesh and Afghanistan on June 7 and June 15 respectively. Igor Stimac’s side has already started training in Qatar and will be playing the match against Philippines this weke.
This will be the first since March that the Blue Tigers will be playing a match. They last played friendly matches against Oman and UAE in Dubai. They had drawn 1-1 against Oman and lost 0-6 to hosts UAE.
How are India’s rivals preparing?
Qatar are not playing any practice match ahead of their qualifying games. Felix Sanches’ side started training on May 18 in Doha. Before that Qatar had played three friendlies, where they won over Luxembourg and Azerbaijan and drew against Ireland.
Afghanistan are currently in Dubai where they will play two practice matches against Indonesia and Singapore on May 25 and May 29 respectively.
Bangladesh were supposed to get some competitive minutes under their belt but their trip to Saudi Arabia has been postponed in the eleventh hour as Bangladesh Football Federation is yet to receive the quarantine exemption letter from Saudi authorities.
India’s journey so far in the Qualifiers
India started their journey with a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oman at home followed by a historic goalless draw against Asian champions Qatar in Doha. In their third and fourth matches, the Blue Tigers managed 1-1 draws against Bangladesh and Afghanistan respectively and then they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Oman away from home.
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