Focus is on progressing to third phase of WC qualifying: Stimac

Bhubaneswar: India is approaching the World Cup qualifying match against Afghanistan with a clear mindset and the focus is to secure a spot in the third phase of the qualifiers for the first time, said football coach Igor Stimac on Thursday.

India will play back-to-back games against Afghanistan as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers round 2, the first of which will take place in Abha, Saudi Arabia on March 21. India will then play their home game against Afghanistan in Guwahati on March 26.

"We will go there to try and win the game. We are not looking at any massive calculations right now. Once we all get there, we will start talking about how to win the game from the very first second," Stimac said in an AIFF release. In November last year, India had began their Joint Qualification Round 2 campaign, logging full points against Kuwait, courtesy Manvir Singh's all-important goal in Kuwait City but then suffered a 0-3 loss at the hands of Qatar in Bhubaneswar.

The Blue Tigers currently stand level on three points with Kuwait but have an inferior goal difference in Group A.

They will be looking to bring their performances back on track after the disappointments of the AFC Asian Cup in January, when India lost against Australia (0-2), Uzbekistan (0-3), and Syria (0-1) in Qatar.

"We are not a club that can work with the players on a daily basis. If you speak about the Asian Cup, it was of course a disappointment, but mostly for those who were not following us regularly. The expectations were high without any base,” said Stimac.

"That's behind us, and I'm happy that we have more important things to do now. The focus is on getting from the second phase to the third phase of qualifying," Stimac said on the sidelines of the AFC Cup Inter-Zone Semi-final match between Odisha FC and Central Coast Mariners FC (Australia).

A top-two finish in their group in the qualifiers will guarantee progression to Round 3 of the qualifiers for India, something that will also ensure direct qualification for AFC Asian Cup 2027. The Indian team is set to travel on a chartered plane to Abha for their first match against Afghanistan.