India’s house match in opposition to Kuwait on June 6 may very well be amongst head coach Igor Stimac’s most necessary matches on the helm of affairs because the nation seeks to make it to the third spherical of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the primary time in its historical past. Stimac is believed to have advised the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in a digital assembly on Saturday that even when India beats Afghanistan twice (house and away) in March, it can nonetheless be troublesome to qualify for the third spherical if the workforce doesn’t do nicely in opposition to Kuwait.

“He said the Kuwait match at home in June will be the most important upcoming match if India is to qualify for the third round. He gave his reasoning and explained it to the members,” in accordance with a supply.

The on-line assembly was held to overview the efficiency of the Indian workforce on the AFC Asian Cup and chart the way in which ahead.

India had misplaced all their three group matches and didn’t rating any objective of their disastrous Asian Cup marketing campaign in Qatar final month.

He had promised after the Asian Cup debacle that he would lead the nation to its maiden third spherical of the FIFA World Cup qualification.

India are positioned in Group A within the second spherical of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification together with Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The prime two groups from the group will progress to the third spherical of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The Blue Tigers have by no means superior to the third spherical of AFC’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers however they’re now in with an opportunity after beating Kuwait 1-0 in Kuwait City in November final yr.

“The mission to beat Kuwait in the away game and get three points has been accomplished. Now the two games against Afghanistan and the home match against Kuwait will be extremely crucial,” Stimac stated in an AIFF launch.

India, who later misplaced to Qatar 0-3 in Bhubaneswar, are in joint second spot with Kuwait in group standings after enjoying two matches every.

India play Afghanistan on March 21 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan of their away match (since Afghanistan can’t host worldwide matches due to the nation’s risky state of affairs), earlier than going through the identical opponents in Guwahati on March 26 (house match).

The Technical Committee was knowledgeable by AIFF Acting Secretary General Satyanarayan that aside from Hyderabad, three state associations — Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal — have expressed curiosity in internet hosting the June 6 match in opposition to Kuwait.

The AIFF is but to reach at a remaining determination on the venue for the Kuwait match.

The assembly was additionally attended by Technical Committee chairperson IM Vijayan, members Pinky Bompal Magar, Shabbir Ali, Victor Amalraj, Climax Lawrence, Santosh Singh, Chief Technical Officer Vincent Subramaniam and Technical Director Sabir Pasha.

“I would like to say to the head coach that the results in Qatar are now a matter of the past. Our main focus should be on the matches ahead, in the March and June FIFA windows and that we should get the best possible results from them,” stated Vijayan.

Satyanarayan stated: “We’ve seen the national team go through highs and lows over the last year, but we can be proud of our players and the effort that they put in every time they take the pitch. However, the area we should concentrate on is the game at the grassroots level, so that our national team becomes stronger in the future.”