The Blue Tigers have been drawn in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 against Qatar, Kuwait, and winners of the Round 1 match between Afghanistan and Mongolia, after the draw was conducted at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, July 27, 2023.

Beginning from Pot 2 of the Qualifiers, India, who are placed 99th in the FIFA Rankings, will face Qatar (59th), Kuwait (137th), and the winners of the match between Afghanistan (157th), Mongolia (183rd) in a double round-robin format on a home-and-away basis.

How will the qualifiers work?

The second round of qualifiers will have 36 teams, divided into nine groups of four teams each. The matches will be played in a home and away-format. The top two teams from each group after the qualifiers will make it to the next round, while the rest will advance to the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualification.

All nine groups after Round 2 draw

Group A: Qatar, India, Kuwait, Afghanistan/Mongolia
Group B: Japan, Syria, DPR Korea, Myanmar/Macau
Group C: Korea Republic, China PR, Thailand,Singapore/Guam
Group D: Oman, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei/Timor-Leste
Group E: IR Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong/China v Bhutan
Group F: Iraq, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia v Brunei Darussalam
Group G: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tajikistan, Cambodia/Pakistan
Group H: UAE, Bahrain, Yemen/Sri Lanka, Nepal/Laos
Group I: Australia, Palestine, Lebanon, Maldives v Bangladesh