India had surprised the football fraternity when they soaked up waves of attacks to hold Qatar 0-0 on September 10, 2019 in their 2022 World Cup second round qualifiers in Doha. Qatar were then in red-hot form, having won the Asia Cup title in early 2019. Qatar were 1-0 victors in the reverse fixture of the two teams in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Ali had suffered an ankle injury in Mohun Bagan's AFC Cup match against Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh last month. India are placed in Group A alongside Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan with the top two from the group progressing to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Source: The Hindu November 20, 2023 15:34 UTC