FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: A look at India's famous campaigns
The Indian football team have been drawn in group A of the joint 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. The Blue Tigers are in great form recently and will look to carry that form into the qualifiers. They have been clubbed with Qatar, Kuwait, and the winner of Afghanistan and Mongolia. Here are India's best WC Qualifier campaigns.
Why does this story matter?
India are aiming to improve on their FIFA World Cup Qualifiers record, which is very poor. They finished third in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and eventually qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup. But the third round of the World Cup qualifiers have eluded them. Igor Stimac is trying to change that narrative as India aim to get to the third round this time.
The famed 1986 World Cup Qualifiers
India's first match in the World Cup Qualifiers in 1986 was against Indonesia, which sadly the Indians lost 2-1. Krishanu Dey was India's lone scorer. However, this was India's only defeat. They drew two fixtures against Thailand and won both against Bangladesh. They also held Indonesia to a 1-1 draw. Overall, India finished second with seven points. Indonesia progressed forward with nine points.
India's most successful World Cup Qualifiers campaign
The 2002 World Cup Qualifiers remain still India's best outing in this competition. They finished third with 11 points, tied with second-placed Yemen. India started their campaign with a 1-0 win over UAE, to date India's only win over UAE. India drew their two matches against Yemen and defeated Brunei twice comprehensively. But they lost to UAE in the away leg.
The 1998 World Cup Qualifiers
India were unfortunate in the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers as they finished third on goal difference. The Qualifiers were single-legged this time, and India started with a 2-0 win over the Philippines. IM Vijayan and Bruno Coutinho scored for India. India were held 1-1 by Sri Lanka, while they suffered a 6-0 defeat against Qatar. India finished third with four points (-4 goal difference).
The 2022 World Cup qualifiers
The recent 2022 World Cup qualifiers gave India some positivity as they made it to the third round of the Asian Cup Qualifiers and eventually made it to the tournament. In the World Cup Qualifiers, India weren't at their best. They could only manage a single win against Bangladesh and four draws, including one against Qatar. They finished third with seven points.
Most goals for India at the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Sunil Chhetri has netted nine goals in 19 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers outings. He is India's highest goal-scorer in this competition. With five goals in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Vijayan is second. Meanwhile, VP Sathyan and Jo Paul Ancheri scored three goals each.
