Mehtab Singh rejoins the national camp ahead of the Kuwait clash in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Indian football fans received good news ahead of the team’s clash with Kuwait in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on Thursday (June 6). Defender Mehtab Singh has rejoined the Indian senior men’s team camp in Kolkata.
On Friday, Mehtab left the Indian camp for personal reasons, creating a major setback for the Indian team. Nevertheless, with the Mumbai City FC defender joining the camp, the Indian team’s defense is back to its best.
Notably, the Punjab-born defender is a first-team regular for India under Igor Stimac in the 27-member training camp. Mehtab will have a lot on his shoulders when the team takes on Kuwait, as India aims to reverse their fortunes after their poor outing recently. They played a goalless draw and lost 1-2 to Afghanistan in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in March.
Where is India ranked in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers?
Team India is in Group A, which is led by Qatar with 12 points. India is placed second ahead of Afghanistan on goal difference. They have four points each while Kuwait has three points in the standings.
Igor Stimac’s side must finish in the top two at the end of the second round to qualify for the next AFC Asian Cup and advance to the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
If India advances to the third round of World Cup Qualifiers, it will mark a historic milestone for them, meaning 10 more matches against the top teams in Asia for a year. This achievement would also secure their direct qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 in Saudi Arabia.
India initiated their FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign with a 1-0 win over Kuwait away from home last November, but their results later in the campaign were disappointing. They suffered a 3-0 loss against Qatar and followed it with a 0-0 draw over Afghanistan. In their last encounter, they suffered a surprising 1-2 defeat against Afghanistan in the reverse fixture in March.
While the qualification scenario would be on Igor Stimac’s mind, another important aspect of the game would be Sunil Chhetri’s retirement. Chhetri announced that the match against Kuwait at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata would be his last international encounter.
Chhetri has scored 94 goals in 150 matches across 19 years. He is currently the third leading active international goal scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.