 "Despite the ball rolling out of play, the referee did not overturn Qatar's controversial goal against India. Image: Screenshot")
A major controversy erupted during India’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier against Qatar on Tuesday after the hosts scored a disputed equaliser during the match at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. After Lallianzuala Chhangte opened the scoring for India, Yousef Aymen got the equaliser for Qatar in the 73rd minute but after the hosts pulled the ball back into the field of play despite it rolling out of play.
India vs Qatar, FIFA World Cup Qualifier: As it happened
After the cross came in, India captain and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu tried to block the ball which slipped through his legs and rolled out of the play behind the goal. Just when Indian defenders were getting ready for a corner, Qatari forwards pulled the ball back for Aymen to put it into the net with a tap-in.
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Gurpreet and Indian defenders protested vehemently to the referee and the linesman and urged them to reverse the decision but the officials did not pay heed to the requests.
Qatar eventually took the lead in the match with a goal from Ahmed Al-Rawi, winning the match 2-1 as a result.
The opening goal from Chhangte came in the 37th minute as they chased qualification to the third round of qualifiers for the first time but with the defeat they crashed out.
Qatar had already qualified for the third round and finished the campaign with 16 points while Kuwait became the second and final team to qualify from Group A after beating Afghanistan 1-0 in their last match.