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The Indian football team return to action as they face Qatar on Matchday 5 of the second round of FIFA World Cup 2022/AFC Asian Cup qualifiers 2023 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.
Indian football are placed 4th in the Group E of the second round of qualifiers and are yet to win a single game. They have managed draws against Bangladesh, Qatar and Afghanistan, and lost both games to Oman.
Qatar sit top of Group E with five wins and a draw; they have accumulated 16 points and look all set to qualify for the Asian Cup, having already qualified for the World Cup as hosts.
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Indian Football team vs Qatar - Recent results
The Indian football team are on a 14-day preparatory camp in Doha. India's last two international friendlies were against Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India drew 1-1 with Oman before losing 6-0 to the UAE in Dubai.
Qatar, meanwhile, come into the game on the back of encouraging results against Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Ireland. They defeated Luxembourg and Azerbaijan by 1-0 and 2-1 scorelines respectively while were held 1-1 by Ireland.
Indian Football Team Form Guide: D-D-L-D-L (Latest on the right)
Qatar Form Guide: W-W-W-W-D (Latest on the right)
Indian Football team vs Qatar: Team News
Indian football team
The Indian football team will miss the services of Rowllin Borges as the midfielder has reportedly suffered a hamstring injury while training and is in doubt for all three games of the qualifiers. Chinglensana Singh also has a slight niggle and is expected to rest ahead of games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Sunil Chhetri will captain the team.
Qatar
Akram Afif is training with the team after a gap of three months but is not near the required levels of fitness and is expected to sit out the game. Felix Sanchez has the rest of the squad at his disposal.
Indian Football team vs Qatar: Predicted line-ups
Indian Football Team (4-3-3): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Pritam Kotal, Narendar Gahlot, Jhingan, Akash Mishra; Anirudh Thapa, Glan Martins, Brandon Fernandes; Bipin Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh
Qatar (4-1-4-1): Saad Al Sheeb (GK); Bassam Al-Rawi, Tarek Salman, Boualem Khoukhi, Karim Boudiaf, Hassan Al-Haydos, Abdulaziz Hatem, Hassan Al-Haydos, Pedro Carvalho, Almoez Ali, Ahmed Alaaeldin
Live telecast details
In India, one can watch it live on Star Sports 2 SD/HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 1 SD/HD (Hindi) channels and streaming platforms Disney+ Hotstar and JioTV.
Kick-off time: 10:30 PM IST
Indian Football team vs Qatar prediction
The Indian football team might have held their guard in the previous fixture against Qatar with a gritty display of defending, but such results are hard to come by one after the other. Qatar are well prepared and will go into the game as firm favorites.
Prediction: Indian football team 0-2 Qatar
