FIFA 2026 qualifiers: India suffer 0-3 defeat to fancied Qatar
Bhubaneswar, Nov 21: India dished out a gritty display but suffered a 0-3 drubbing against dominant Asian champions Qatar in their second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup second round qualifiers here on Tuesday.
Qatar would have won by a bigger margin had they not missed several chances while dominating throughout the 90 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium.
The visiting side scored through Moustafa Tarek Mashal (4th minute), Almeoz Ali (47th) and Yusuf Adurisag (86th).
India, who were seeking inspiration from their famous 0-0 draw against the same opponents four years ago, could barely create scoring chances. They did get a couple of opportunities at the fag end of the first half, but wasted them.
Igor Stimac's team is still in contention to finish second in Group A and qualify for the third round for the first time after a 1-0 win over Kuwait in their away match on November 16.
The Indian defence was exposed quite early into the match as they conceded a goal in the fourth minute itself.
Off a corner, three Qatar players exchanged passes inside the Indian box but none of the home side defenders could touch the ball. Moustafa Tarek Mashal then sent a low right-footed shot which beat goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, who was fielded by Igor Stimac in place of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, all ends up.
Akram Afif missed three chances which allowed India to go into the breather just one goal down.
Afif failed to hit the target in the second minute with just the Indian goalkeeper in front of the post. He also failed to find the target in the 14th, 22nd and 26th minutes.
First goal scorer Mashal's free header was saved by Amrinder.
Their backs to the wall, India tried to hit on the counter and they got two fine chances, and could have restored parity from the second one.
Then, Udanta Singh and Anirudh Thapa had a nice one-touch neat exchange of passes but Lalengmawia Ralte failed to direct his shot properly from the edge of the box.
Three minutes from the break, Thapa wasted an easier chance as he had only the Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham to beat after the ball landed on him following a defensive mistake. But Thapa somehow could only produce a weak low shot which missed the post by a wide margin.
If the fag end of the first half saw some fightback from India, Qatar nipped it in the bud by doubling the lead in the second minute of the second half (47th minute of the match) with their prolific striker Almeoz Ali finding the target.
Ali had scored four goals in Qatar's 8-1 hammering of Afghanistan in their previous match.
Thapa was taken off in the 63rd minute and Sahal Abdul Samad came in his place. Just two minutes later, Suresh Singh found him inside the Qatar box with a brilliant delivery but Samad's left-footed shot was wide of the far post.
Four minutes from regulation time, Qatar made it 3-0 (86th minute) with Yusuf Adurisag heading home after connecting a cross from Mohammed Albayati.
India next play their 2026 World Cup qualifiers match against Afghanistan at the neutral venue of Dushanbe, Tajikistan on March 21 next year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Leopard spotted near Kadri Manjunath Temple in Mangaluru
Mangaluru: A leopard was spotted in Doctors’ Colony near the Kadri Manjunath Temple area in Mangaluru in the early hours of Monday, February 23, creating anxiety among residents of the locality.
According to local residents, the animal was spotted in the CCTV footage of two cameras installed in the locality around 1 am near the entrance gate of Doctors’ Colony. The footage shows the leopard walking calmly in front of the gate before moving out of view.
The sighting has come as a surprise as the area is largely urbanised, with apartment complexes and villa-type houses dominating the surroundings. Except for a small patch of forested land above the Kadri temple area, there is little greenery nearby. Residents say the concrete landscape offers limited scope for wild animals to find food.
This is not the first time wild animals have been spotted in the locality. Two years ago, a wild gaur had entered the same area and was later guided back into the forest through Shaktinagar. Just last week, a smaller leopard was sighted in Shaktinagar and was also captured on CCTV cameras. Now, a bigger leopard has been recorded near Kadri.
So far, no one has reported a direct sighting of the animal, and no formal complaint has been lodged with the Forest Department.
Forest Department officials said leopard movement is common during the months of January and February, as the animals often enter human settlements in search of food. In areas near forests, they usually prey on poultry and stray dogs.
Officials added that leopards are capable of travelling 15 to 20 kilometres in a single night and generally do not remain in one place if they are unable to find food. While sightings are more common in forest-fringe areas such as Bajpe and Neermarga, repeated appearances within core city limits this time have caused concern among residents.
