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- India Vs Kuwait FIFA Qualifiers Update | Sunil Chhetri Last Match
Sports Desk8 minutes ago
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Fans’ emotions will be at their peak when star Sunil Chhetri leads India in the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait in Kolkata today on June 6. Chhetri will play his last match for the country today. India will play against Kuwait in the Round 3 match of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
After dominating national football for 19 years, Chhetri would like to take his team to the next round as a farewell. The 39-year-old Chhetri will retire after this match and would like the team to enter the top-18 stage of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time. The top two teams from the nine groups of four teams each will advance to the third round.
Chhetri is the world’s third top active goal scorer
Chhetri has scored 94 goals for the Indian team. He is the second highest active international goal scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Chhetri will play his last match in his first home ground
For the last 19 years, Sunil Chhetri has carried the footballing hopes of a country often called the ‘sleeping giants’ of world football. With 94 goals in 150 matches and a dozen trophies, the Indian captain has been the GOAT of Indian football.
Chhetri started his professional football career with Mohun Bagan in 2002. Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium is the home ground of Mohun Bagan. Now Chhetri will play his last game for the country on this ground today.
Sunil Chhetri credits Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya for instilling in him passion for the game.
Chhetri received Khel Ratna, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award
- Sunil Chhetri was born on August 3, 1984 in Secunderabad. His father KB Chhetri was an army man, while mother Sushila has played for Nepal’s national football team.
- Chhetri was awarded the Khel Ratna Award in the year 2021. Earlier, he received the Padma Shri in 2019 and the Arjuna Award in 2011. Apart from this, Chhetri won the AIFF Player of the Year award six times in his illustrious career.
- Sunil Chhetri made his debut in the senior team for India in 2005. He took over the captaincy of the team after Baichung Bhutia. He has scored 94 goals in 150 matches for India.
Chhetri’s golden memories from the match against Kuwait
Chhetri has fond memories of playing against Kuwait. Last year, he captained India to a 5-4 win on penalties in the final of the 2023 SAFF Championship in Bengaluru.
Indian team players with the SAFF Championship trophy.
Victory is necessary for India today
India, second in Group A behind Qatar (12 points), are ahead of Afghanistan and Kuwait, who have three points each, on goal difference with four points from four matches. A win will put India firmly ahead of Afghanistan, who will face Qatar on June 6.
Afghanistan are trailing by seven goals against India and a win against Kuwait would almost take the equation out of their hands. India will face Qatar while Afghanistan will face Kuwait in the final round of matches on June 4.
The journey to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers
India is not currently in the World Cup 2026, but Team India has a chance to qualify for it. Due to better ranking, India did not have to participate in Round-1 for the Asia Qualifiers in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team played directly in Round-2. There will be a total of 5 rounds for qualification.
The most difficult task for India will be to qualify for the World Cup. Here the team will compete against the top teams of Asia. These include Japan and Korea. In such a situation, it becomes even more important for Team India to give its best in the coming years.
At present India is ranked 18th among 46 countries in Asia. Understand the qualification process in points ..
- First round- Asia’s 27 to 46 ranked teams will play against each other. The 10 winners will advance to Round-2.
- Second Round – 9 groups of 4 teams will be formed between the teams ranked 1 to 26 and the 10 teams of the first round. A total of 36 teams will be in Round-2. Teams will play 2 matches each against all the teams in their group. The top-2 teams of each group will go to the third round and qualify for the Asian Cup. India is currently at number two, but the group matches are still pending.
- Third Round- Here 3 groups of 6 teams each will be formed among the 18 teams. Teams of each group will play 2 matches each against each other. The top 2 teams of the 3 groups will qualify for the World Cup.
- Fourth Round – In the third round, two groups of 3 each will be formed between the 6 teams ranked third and fourth. All teams will play against the teams of their group. One top team from each group will go to the World Cup.
- Fifth Round- In the fourth round, the two teams that finished second in the group stage will play against each other. The team that wins this match will be the 9th and last team to qualify from Asia for the World Cup.
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