The Indian football team led by the Croatian head coach Igor Stimac, will soon be in action as Blue Tigers are set to take on Afghanistan football team in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier on the 22nd of May in Saudi Arabia.
The Indian football team is set to be back in action in few days time after a not so promising AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign for the Blue Tigers. Team India lost its all 3 matches and unofficially finished 24th out of the 24 teams taking part in the competition.
Meanwhile, in their last FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier 2nd round match, they lost the match 3-0 to Qatar at home. But the Blue Tigers are back in action with back-to-back matches against Afghanistan, first away from in Saudi Arabia and then at home in Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
The first match of the double header is a home match for Afghanistan, who will host Team India at the Damac Stadium in Saudi Arabia. The match will be played on the 22nd of March at 12:30 A.M Indian Standard Time (IST) midnight.
Going into the match, both India and Afghanistan have played 11 official matches against each other, with the first match between the two teams played first back in 1951. In total, out of the 11 matches recorded, Team India have won 7 matches while Afghanistan have been victorious in only one occasion, 3 matches ended in a draw.
India vs Afghanistan football match 1951
The first competitive match between India and Afghanistan was played back in the year 1951 in the Asian Games, in which the Indian football team registered a 3-0 win.
After that, there was a long wait for the 2nd match between the two teams, that took place in the year 2003 in the SAFF Championship that India dominated to win 4-0.
After that, Team India further won 2 more matches in 2008 and 2009 respectively, both the matches ended 1-0 scoreline in favour of the Indian football team. In 2011, India and Afghanistan played their first ever match that ended a 1-1 draw in the SAFF Championship. In the same edition of the SAFF Championship, India beat Afghanistan in the final 4-0.
In the year 2013, Team India suffered their first ever defeat against Afghanistan. The Afghanistan team managed to produce a 2-0 win in the SAFF Championship 2013.
Since the defeat, India and Afghanistan have played a further 4 matches. Team India won the match in 2016 2-1 scoreline and won the very latest match played between the two teams in 2022, that also ended in 2-1. Between the two matches, two further matches were played between the two teams as part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifier, but both the matches ended in a 1-1 draw.
India vs Afghanistan Football Head-to-Head Record
India vs Afghanistan, 3-0, 1951 Asian Games
Afghanistan vs India, 0-4, 2003 SAFF Championship
India vs Afghanistan, 1-0, 2008 AFC Challenge Cup
India vs Afghanistan, 1-0, 2009 SAFF Championship
India vs Afghanistan, 1-1, 2011 SAFF Championship
India vs Afghanistan, 4-0, 2011 SAFF Championship Final
Afghanistan vs India, 2-0, 2013 SAFF Championship
India vs Afghanistan, 2-1, 2016 SAFF Championship
Afghanistan vs India, 1-1, FIFA World Cup Qualifier in 2019
India vs Afghanistan, 1-1, FIFA World Cup Qualifier in 2021
India vs Afghanistan, 2-1, AFC Asian Cup Qualifier in 2022
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