Poor refereeing robbed India of a chance to secure a historic entry into the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, while Qatar chased a controversial goal to emerge 2-1 winners on Tuesday. India took the lead thanks to Lallianzuala Chhangte's goal in the 37th minute, but disaster struck when the referee ruled Yousef Aymen's goal fair after the ball appeared to have gone out of play. The hugely controversial decision disrupted India's momentum as Asian champions Qatar scored their second goal through Ahmed Al-Rawi in the 85th minute. In another final second round match, Kuwait defeated Afghanistan 1-0. Qatar and Kuwait thus advanced to the second round.
LADRONEEEES | With Qatar Gulf 🇶🇦, India has been eliminated from the 2026 Copa del Mundo.
Unbelievable that it is a friend of India 🇮🇳 with this golf course, the campsite's football field. Abuso.
— Gian Franco Zelaya (@gianfzelaya) June 11, 2024
Just five days after the international retirement of arguably the country's greatest footballer, Sunil Chhetri, not many players gave the beleaguered 121st-ranked side a chance, but Igor Stimac's wards turned the tables in style and appeared to be on course after Chhangte's attack.
Chhangte, the 27-year-old winger from Mizoram's Lunglei, fired the ball accurately into the bottom corner after a diagonal pass from Brandon Fernandes.
This is rancid. India has been robbed.#IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/fbRwJA74Zy
— Hari (@Harii33) June 11, 2024
After receiving the ball, he made no mistake in outsmarting his marker and broke the deadlock to silence the intended hosts' supporters at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
It was redemption of sorts for Chhangte as he found the back of the net after failing to convert two chances created by Brandon.
The strike also made Chhangte India the highest scoring active player with 8 goals.
A large number of Indian supporters also stormed the venue and at times outperformed the home crowd when it came to cheers after Chhangte's strike.
Before Chhangte struck, Manvir Singh had a great chance to put India ahead but failed to complete the task.
This was after Qatar squandered a chance to draw first blood thanks to a brilliant save from Mehtab Singh, who came down to clear the ball from over the line.
For the record, this is the first time so far that Qatar has trailed in the World Cup qualifiers.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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