India vs Kuwait: Lackluster Blue Tigers share points as Sunil Chhetri bids adieu in Kolkata

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India was held to a goalless draw at the hands of Kuwait in their World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers match on Thursday (June 6) at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

India's hopes of advancing to the next round took a major hit as the Blue Tigers failed to get all three points at home against Kuwait, who were at the bottom of their group before the start of the match. It was an underwhelming swansong for India captain Sunil Chhetri, who bid adieu to international football.

It was an underwhelming outing from Igor Stimac's men, who have now jeopardized their chances of making it to the 3rd round. India will take on Qatar in the next match in Doha while Kuwait faces Afghanistan.

India vs Kuwait - As It Happened

India made a fast start to the first half. The left-hand flank was quite busy in the early minutes as Jay Gupta and Liston Colaco were threatening the Kuwait defence. The latter sent in a superb cross from the left which was just out of reach for Sunil Chhetri. Soon after, Kuwait almost opened the scoring but Youssef Nasser failed to hit the target.

Anwar Ali, in the 28th minute, found space in the box but his header was straight at the Kuwait keeper. India had the upper hand as they had the majority of the possession and chances, but failed to break through the visitors' defence. At the break, it was a stalemate at the Salt Lake stadium with all to play.

In the second time, India had a glorious opportunity through Rahim Ali, but the forward hit his shot straight at the keeper as the Blue Tigers were denied from taking the lead. Kuwait's first chance of the half fell to Eid Al Rashidi, but he was denied as Gupreet made a smart save to his right.

Stimac made a plethora of changes as the likes of Manvir Singh, Brandon Fernandes came on but the home team lacked quality in front of goal. Kuwait created chances of their own but Gurpreet at goal came to the rescue for the hosts. The match had a scrappy end with players of both teams coming together. The match ended in a stalemate and goalless as both teams shared one point each in Kolkata.

India vs Kuwait - Playing XI

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Rahul Bheke, Nikhil Poojary, Anwar Ali, Jay Gupta (Edmund Lalrindika); Anirudh Thapa (Brandon Fernandes), Suresh Singh Wangjam; Liston Colaco (Manvir Singh), Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sahal Abdul Samad (Rahim Ali); Sunil Chhetri

Kuwait: Sulaiman Abdulghafoor; Meshari Alenezi, Khaled Ibrahim (Fahad Al Hajeri), Hasan Al Anezi; Mohammad Abdulah, Eid Al Rashidi (Ali Matar), Rashed Al Dousari (Sami Al Sanea), Redha Abujbarah (Sultan Al Enezi), Faisal Al Harbi (Ahmad Al Dhefiri); Athbi Saleh, Yousef Al Sulaiman