{"id":8740,"date":"2023-11-15T17:13:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T11:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/2023\/11\/15\/fifa-2026-world-cup-afc-qualifiers-stimac-confident-of-indias-preparation-ahead-of-kuwait-clash\/"},"modified":"2023-11-15T17:13:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T11:43:12","slug":"fifa-2026-world-cup-afc-qualifiers-stimac-confident-of-indias-preparation-ahead-of-kuwait-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/2023\/11\/15\/fifa-2026-world-cup-afc-qualifiers-stimac-confident-of-indias-preparation-ahead-of-kuwait-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA 2026 World Cup AFC qualifiers: Stimac confident of India\u2019s preparation ahead of Kuwait\u00a0clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s quest to qualify for the World Cup 2026 gets underway 30 months before the tournament as the Blue Tigers take on 136-ranked Kuwait in the 60,000-seater Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in the capital of the Middle Eastern country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was just over four months ago when Gurpreet Singh Sandhu\u2019s outstretched left glove pushed out Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah\u2019s penalty to win the SAFF Championship final in Bengaluru. However, for Indian head coach, Igor Stimac all that\u2019s in the past now. The Croat has urged his players to forget that and start with a clean slate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis match has nothing to do with the games we played two months ago because a lot of things have changed since then,\u201d explained Stimac at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

He points out the different circumstances, and several changes in both squads. \u201cThe players had a long rest and started the season with their clubs. India and Kuwait are not the same sides, we both have had a few injured players. But that\u2019s normal in football. Teams change from month to month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Blue Tigers have played 14 matches this year, but none were as important as the one they will play in Kuwait on Thursday. But the stakes were never higher, after all, it\u2019s a World Cup qualifier.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: FIFA 2026 World Cup AFC qualifiers all you need to know: When, where to watch India vs Kuwait; full schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

More importantly, the matches also double up as qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup as well. The top two in the group (reigning champions Qatar and Afghanistan are the other sides in Group A) will not only progress to the final round of World Cup qualification but also book their berth at the continental showpiece in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good preparation. We trained for five days in Dubai, adjusting to everything that we are expecting. How you open the qualifiers, with zero, one or three points, can make a huge difference,\u201d said a confident Stimac.<\/p>\n

Indian midfielder Brandon Fernandes echoed his coach\u2019s sentiments. \u201cWe expect a very difficult match. It\u2019s important that we have a good start in these qualifiers, and for that, we need to stay committed and give everything on the pitch,\u201d said the 29-year-old.<\/p>\n

The Indian coach also pointed out the opponents\u2019 quality despite being ranked 34 places lower than India. The two matches between the two sides in Bengaluru ended 1-1 in regulation time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth teams are similar in strength. We are well aware that Kuwait deserve a much better rank than where they are right now. They will have the home advantage, but we\u2019re going to try and eliminate that,\u201d Stimac added.<\/p>\n

Infamous for its heat, the Blue Tigers were welcomed with light rain upon their arrival in Kuwait City, and the rain is forecast to stay for the next couple of days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the players are happy here with a few drops of rain. It\u2019s going to be a wonderful time playing football and enjoying the game,\u201d concluded the 56-year-old tactician.<\/p>\n

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\nComments\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Blue Tigers have played 14 matches this year, but none were as important as the one they will play in Kuwait due to it being a World Cup 2026 qualifier.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-sport-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}