India's FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Asia Schedule & Points Table: Second Round Fixtures of Indian National Football Team, Match Timings & Venue Details
The emergence of young players like Sahal Abdul Samad and Udanta Singh has been wonderful to watch. The two are quite dynamic in the middle of the park and under Igor Stimac, they will only improve further. In addition, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s heroics throughout the two games has been a real positive.
India are placed in Group E with Qatar, Oman, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Asia. Indian National Football Team will be playing a total of eight matches in the Second Round of FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. After India won a priceless point away at Qatar, the focus has shifted back on the Blue Tigers’ journey in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers. The draw against the Asian champions, considered one of the greatest results in India’s footballing history got Igor Stimac’s men out of mark. India placed at fourth in the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers points table taking on Bangladesh, it’s time to look at the schedule, points table and team news of Indian National Football Team in detail. We will look at India's FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Asia schedule and points table, second round fixtures including upcoming India vs Bangladesh match along with timings in IST and venue details.
India next faces Bangladesh in Kolkata on the 15th of October which is a must-win game for them. Former skipper Baichung Bhutia has stressed on the importance of building from the draw against Qatar and that performance should not be a one-off. In November, they have difficult assignments away in Afghanistan and Oman which in a way will determine if they progress to the next round. The Blue Tigers have to finish in top two to have a shot at progress to the next stage of qualifiers something of a dream for the fans. But with the first two rounds of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers doubling up as the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers as well, India has a lot to focus on.
India's FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Asia Schedule – 2nd Round Group E
| Sr. No. | Date | Fixtures | Time in IST | Venue |
| 1. | 05/09/2019 | India vs Oman | 7.30pm IST | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium |
| 2. | 10/09/2019 | Qatar vs India | 10.00pm IST | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium |
| 3. | 15/10/2019 | Bangladesh vs India | 7.30pm IST | Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) |
| 4. | 14/11/2019 | Afghanistan vs India | 7.30pm IST | Central Republican Stadium |
| 5. | 19/11/2019 | Oman vs India | 8.30pm IST | Al-Seeb Stadium |
| 6. | 26/03/2019 | India vs Qatar | 5.30pm IST | TBD |
| 7. | 04/06/2020 | Bangladesh vs India | 5.30pm IST | TBD |
| 8. | 09/06/2019 | India vs Bangladesh | 5.30pm IST | TBD |
India currently lie at the fourth spot in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers points table just above Bangladesh who lost to Afghanistan. Qatar with 4 points lead the pack followed by Oman who came back from behind to see off India’s challenge in Guwahati. Afghanistan were blanked 6-0 by Qatar but their win over Bangladesh sees them at third in the table.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – Second Round Group E
| Ranking | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1. | Qatar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| 2. | Oman | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 3. | Afghanistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | -8 | 3 |
| 4. | India | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 5. | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
The emergence of young players like Sahal Abdul Samad and Udanta Singh has been wonderful to watch. The two are quite dynamic in the middle of the park and under Igor Stimac, they will only improve further. In addition, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s heroics throughout the two games has been a real positive. Going forward India will need its vice-captain to be on top of his game if more positive results are to follow. The real challenge for India will arise when it will need to get three points against either Oman or Qatar which is needed to progress further.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2019 02:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).