NEW DELHI: India will play its remaining three FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Qatar as the Asian Football Association (AFC) has decided to host the games in centralized locations due to coronavirus-related travel and quarantine restrictions.
Under the original schedule, the Indian team would have played Qatar at home, Bangladesh away and Afghanistan at home, but the global pandemic has forced radical changes in the fixtures.
“The host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will greet opponents from Group E, Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh. Japan will set the stage for Group F matches from the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia prepare, “said the AFC in a press release on Friday.
“Following close consultation with Asian member associations, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) today confirmed the main venues for the Asian qualifying matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup China 2023, starting May 31 should take place until June 15, 2021. ”
Qatar is also hosting next year’s FIFA World Cup.
India are currently fourth in Group E with three points from five games. Qatar leads the table with 13 points, while Oman is one point behind in second place.
The second round of the qualifying games has not been played since November 2019 due to the pandemic.
Last month, the AFC announced that most qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Asia in March would be postponed to May and June – with a few exceptions, including Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Although India is not fighting for a World Cup place, it is still fighting for a place in the Asian Cup, which will be played in China.
Eight group winners and four best runner-ups reach the last qualifying phase of the continent with 12 teams for the world championship.
A third place in the group will help India grab a straight spot in the third round of qualifying for the Asian Cup.
The Indian team was scheduled to play Qatar in Bhubaneswar on October 8th last year, but the game has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the AFC publication, China will host Group A, which includes the leaders of Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam.
Kuwait has been confirmed to host Group B, which includes Australia, Jordan, Nepal and Chinese Taipei.
Bahrain will host the Group C games with leaders Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Hong Kong and Cambodia, while Saudi Arabia has been selected to host the Group D games, which include Uzbekistan, Singapore, Yemen and Palestine.
The United Arab Emirates have been selected to host Group G, made up of ASEAN challengers Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, while South Korea will host the Group H games with leaders Turkmenistan, Lebanon, North Korea and Sri Lanka.
