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Owing to high cost and unavailability of appropriate aircraft for the 40-member contingent, The All India Football Federation (AIFF) could not arrange a chartered flight for the Indian Football team
In a meeting with AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, Igor Stimac had raised the concern of the strenous journey of boarding multiple flights last week. Chaubey had assured head coach of a chartered flight, which would help the team save time and not compromise training sessions. Further, acclimatisation was also a crucial factor, with Abha situated at 2270m above sea level.
The first batch of players have departed on Thursday, March 14, and will reach Abha by Friday evening.
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“They will fly to Jeddah from Delhi and from there to Abha,” an AIFF official said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the players taking part in FC Goa-Bengaluru FC match in Goa will depart from Delhi on Friday and reach Abha by Saturday noon.
Indian Football Team schedule for FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
The 25-man Indian squad will be up against Afghanistan in back-to-back games on March 21 and 26 in Round 2 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Joint Qualifiers. The first game will be played at Abha, while the second game is slated to be played at Guwahati.
Head coach Igor Stimac was optimistic about India's chances ahead of the crucial Qualifiers and said:
"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."
India kickstarted their Round 2 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Kuwait, before suffering a 0-3 loss against Qatar. They are currently at the third spot in the Group A table, consisting of four teams. Qatar are at the top with two victories, while Kuwait are at second position.
If India secures a top-2 position in Group A, they will guarantee themselves a qualification to the Round 3 of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. It will also help them earn a direct qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
