India vs Afghanistan (IND vs AFG) Football Today Match, CAFA Nations Cup 2025: India and Afghanistan played out a draw in a match that saw chances at a premium with both teams’ forwards failing to really trouble the goalkeepers. The result meant that India are still in the race for a 3rd place playoff match depending on the result of Iran vs Tajikistan later on Thursday.
Jamil’s start to life as India head coach has been a fairly good one, with the only real blemish being a rather puzzling tweak in formation he made in the early minutes of the second half against Iran, which ultimately led to India finally conceding a goal. The sheer gap in quality after that meant that India finally buckled, especially after Iran brought on their big guns in Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
But unlike Tajikistan and Iran, 161st-ranked Afghanistan are placed well below India (133) and so Jamil’s men will now be looking to record another victory. Despite being the overwhelming underdogs against Iran, India were guilty of squandering a few goalscoring chances and giving the ball away too easily. This is the chance Jamil has to get his team to break out of a defensive mindset and test the side’s potential in attack.
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As things stand, the Blue Tigers need a win against Afghanistan, and hope that Tajikistan do not win against Iran in Thursday’s second game, in order to progress further. (Credit: AIFF)
India eye victory against Afghanistan in push for CAFA Nations Cup play-offs
Revenge for their shock loss last year will be on their minds when they face a tricky Afghanistan in their last group match of the CAFA Nations Cup here on Thursday.
India, then under Igor Stimac, had suffered an embarrassing 1-2 defeat against Afghanistan in Guwahati in a FIFA World Cup qualifying round match in March 2024, and the current team under Khalid Jamil would be eager to make amends of that loss.
