India vs Afghanistan: AFC Asia Cup 2023 Qualifier Match Preview, Team News and Line-ups

India vs Afghanistan is the next upcoming AFC Asia Cup 2023 Qualifier match. As India look to continue their impressive cup run against Afghanistan after a win against Cambodia.

India vs Afghanistan: Match Preview:

High on confidence from their 2-0 victory over Cambodia, India take on Afghanistan in their second group match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers on Saturday.

India's first football meeting with Afghanistan dates back to 1950, when India emerged victorious with a 3-0 scoreline at the Asian Games semi-final in Delhi.

Chhetri scored a brace against Cambodia but India head coach Igor Stimac has urged the likes of Udanta Singh and Sahal Abdul Samad to step up and start scoring.

"It's again Sunil. Others tried to get it but not finding a way. So I expect goals from Liston, Manvir, Udanta, Aashique, Sahal.

"They all need to start scoring. We need to start learning... The boys need to start learning to play without Sunil -- simple as that," Stimac had said after India's win over Cambodia.

Team News:

India:

Midfielder Lalengmawia Ralte remains out of the qualifiers with an injury. Rahul Bheke, Deepak Tangri, Chinglensana Singh, and Hormipam remain uncertain, and Roshan Singh, who picked up a slight knock in the last match, may start on the bench.

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan, which presently ranks third in the Group D table, has no significant injury concern and coach Anoush Dastgi will most likely have his full squad to choose from.

India vs Afghanistan: Head to Head:

India (ranked 106th) and Afghanistan (ranked 150th) have met 10 times, out of which the Blue Tigers have won six times. Afghanistan has won one and three matches have ended in a draw. The Blue Tigers have scored a total of 33 goals and the Lions of Khorasan have scored eight.

Both teams met for the first time in the 1951 Asian Games semifinal in New Delhi. India won the match 3-0 with Pansanttom Venkatesh, Sheoo Mewalal, and Santosh Nandy scoring for the host. The last time both teams met, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Technically both goals in the match were scored by the Lions of Khorasan. Goalkeeper Ovays Azizi of Aghanistan scored a horrendous own goal while Hossein Zamani scored the equalizer to end the game in a draw.

Form Guide:

India:

Win: India 2-0 Cambodia

Loss: India 0-2 Jordan

Loss: India 0-3 Belarus:

Loss: Bahrain 2-1 India

Afghanistan:

Loss: Hong Kong 2-1 Afghanistan

Loss: Vietnam 2-0 Afghanistan

Loss: Afghanistan 0-1 Jordan U-23

Win: Afghanistan 3-0 Kuwait

Draw: India 1-1 Afghanistan

India vs Afghanistan: Match and Telecast Details:

Match: Indian National Team vs Afghanistan National Team (2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers)

Date: June 11, 2022

Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata, India

Timings: 8:30 PM IST.

Live Telecast and Streaming: Star Sports 3 (Live Telecast), Hotstar and Jio TV (Live Streaming)

Predicted Line-ups:

India's probable XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Naorem Roshan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra; Suresh Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad; Brandon Fernandes, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco; Sunil Chhetri.

Afghanistan's probable XI: Ovayz Azizi (GK); David Najem, Sharif Mukhammad, Zohib Amiri, Najim Haidary; Farshad Noor, Noor Husin; Maziar Kouhyar, Omid Popalzay, Omran Haydari; Mushtaq Ahmadi.