FIFA World Cup qualifier: History beckons Blue Tigers!

The road has been rugged and bumpy so far but India still stand on the cusp of history A victory on the night of June 6 at the Salt Lake Stadium for India against Kuwait in their penultimate Group A fixture of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 will put their one foot into the neverseenbefore territory the next round of qualifiersJune 6 A date that has been echoing in the realm of Indian football for the past couple of months The defeat to Afghanistan in Guwahati in March converted this date into practically a doordie occasion for India And the echoes were further amplified when Sunil Chhetri exactly three weeks before DDay announced that it would also be his RDay R for Retirement After 19 years of unmatchable service to his great nation the Indian skipper will hang his boots at the Salt Lake amid more than 60 thousand people who will witness the legends last kick of the ball for IndiaBut Chhetri was the quickest to point out during Wednesdays press conference ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifier that the match should not be about him but the potentially groundbreaking result awaiting Indian footballIm trying really hard not to think about the game emotionally Its not about me I would love to win 10 I dont care who scores The last 15 days have been good I think were on the same page in terms of fitness and thats a good headache for the coach to have said ChhetriIndia head coach Igor Stimac also concurred with his skippers words The most significant thing about the FIFA World Cup qualifier will be the victory The fact that its Chhetris last 90 minutes for the nation adds to the prestige of the fixtureKnowing that this is the last game of our captain for the national team makes this occasion much much bigger But of course this is still about India winning against Kuwait We are focussed on what we need to do I will put it in a few words we are ready for it said StimacAlso ReadTrying hard to Chhetri cautiously downplays last national team appearanceIndia and Kuwait have met thrice in the last 12 months twice in the SAFF Championship 11 in the group stage and a penalty shootout win for India in the final before the Blue Tigers triumphed 10 in the World Cup Qualifiers in NovemberWe had three tight tough games against Kuwait said Stimac Either team couldve won them I would say our best game was away in Kuwait in these qualifiers because that was perfect defensive shape not allowing them to get near our box and create clear chances Thats what we need to repeat tomorrow with our discipline focus tight marking reaching the opposition goal and scoring the goal because thats what we needScoring goals from open play has been an Achilles heel for India who have failed to score in five of the last six matches apart from Chhetris penalty against Afghanistan in Guwahati In fact Indias last openplay goal came against Kuwait from Manvir Singhs left foot But with every passing training session with goal nets bulging nonstop from finishing drills Stimac gains more and more confidenceThe boys have worked tremendously hard on details and for everything that is needed for this game Were going to be absolutely ready for each scenario which awaits us he saidAs far as Indias opponents are concerned after the end of their domestic season in the last week of May Kuwait held a oneweek camp in Bangkok before travelling to Kolkata on Tuesday night Their Portuguese head coach Rui Bento named a 26man squad composed entirely of players from the Kuwait Premier LeagueWe expect a good game tomorrow We know that both teams have competitive targets and the same goal Weve had a good environment in our training We believe that more than the one week of camp in Thailand its about the one and a half year of us being together as a team said BentoThe former Portugal youth international coach believed Kuwait ranked 139th in the world are now in a better place than last year and can put up a better challenge against India on Thursday as compared to the last three meetings However the West Asians are also wary that a defeat will condemn them to the bottom two in the group and officially eliminate them from World Cup qualifyingYes we played three games against India last year They were all very balanced and the teams were at a similar level But all those matches are history Football is always an ongoing process and we are proud and confident of ourselves We are more prepared now to face India and expect ourselves to be better than before and win the game said BentoWith agency inputs