A Walkover, A 0-0 Scoreline And India’s Asian Games eFootball Exit Explained

India's eFootball campaign at the Asian Games 2026 ended in the group stage after a combination of a goalless draw, a walkover and the competition's tie-break rules left the team behind Uzbekistan.

Danial Patel and Chinmay Sahoo finished with four points in Group F, but could not advance to the quarterfinals. The decisive factor was that India's walkover win over Mongolia was recorded as 0-0, meaning it did not improve their goal difference.

How did India finish on four points?

India opened their Group F campaign with a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan.

That gave both teams one point, leaving their final group matches against Mongolia crucial for qualification.

Uzbekistan subsequently defeated Mongolia, giving them three points and putting them on four points overall.

India then received a walkover after Mongolia failed to report within the stipulated check-in time. The match was recorded as a 0-0 win rather than a conventional victory with goals added to India's goal difference.

As a result, India also finished on four points but had no goal difference advantage from the walkover.

Why did the 0-0 walkover matter?

The unusual result proved decisive.

According to the reports, Mongolia's team leader arrived three minutes after the scheduled check-in deadline. Under the competition rules, that resulted in a forfeit in India's favour.

India had asked officials to allow the match to be played, but the decision stood. The team was also told it could pay $500 for a judge-panel review, but India chose not to pursue that option.

Because the forfeit was recorded as 0-0, India could not add goals to its goal difference.

That left Uzbekistan ahead of India in Group F on goal difference.

Why couldn't India qualify as a best second-placed team?

India's situation became more complicated because the tournament also allowed some second-placed teams to progress.

Although India finished second in Group F, their goal difference was not sufficient to secure one of those places.

Thailand and Saudi Arabia took the available best-second-placed spots with goal differences of +3 and +2 respectively.

India therefore exited despite remaining unbeaten in the group.

The result was particularly disappointing for Patel, the reigning mobile Asian eFootball champion, who was competing alongside Sahoo.

For India, the campaign ultimately hinged not on a defeat but on the consequences of a forfeited match being recorded as 0-0 - a result that left their points tally intact but gave them no boost in the goal-difference calculations.