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India will face Asian Giants as they try to move one step closer to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
India knocked out Nepal to complete a successful pre-qualifying round and advance to the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. Having been clubbed with the Asian giants Iran and Oman, India faces a daunting task to qualify for the World Cup. Turkmenistan and Guam being the other two teams in India’s group.
The FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers will also be a double up to identify teams for the 2019 Asian Cup.
While qualifying for the World Cup remains a pipe dream for Stephen Constantine’s side, India stand a realistic chance of making the cut for the Asian Cup for only the second time in nearly four decades.
Iran is the top-ranked team in Asia, at 40th in the FIFA charts, while Oman is ranked 97. India, courtesy their 26-place jump to 147 in the latest world rankings released last week. India will open their campaign against Oman on June 11 at home. Delhi, Bangalore or Guwahati would be hosting the home game.
The countries that finish top of the eight groups and the four second-best teams will progress to the third and final qualification phase for the World Cup in Russia. They will also qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE.
Wishing our Indian Men’s Team all the very best for the Qualifiers that stand ahead of them.
