The Indian National Football Team has been on a roll, winning matches consistently and moving up the FIFA rankings with every triumph. The team’s footballing campaign reached a new high on 4th July, when they defeated Kuwait in the finals of the SAFF Championship to lift their second consecutive title and their 9th title overall.
Held once every two years, the SAFF Championship is a prestigious title in the South Asian Football Circuit where 8 teams, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka participate to come out as the best team in South Asia. Defending champions India took on Kuwait in the finals of the tournament held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India, and emerged victorious in a clash that went down to the wire.
The two teams had previously locked horns in their final group stage match where they fought to a 1-1 draw, having already qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament. While Kuwait defeated the 2018 champions Bangladesh in the semis, India defeated Lebanon to book their spot in the title clash against Kuwait.
The final match was an evenly matched encounter where both teams were in an attacking mode throughout the match. Kuwait took an early lead in the first half when Shabaib Al-Khaldi scored the opening goal in the 14th minute. India was soon able to recover from the early blow when Lallianzuala Chhangte scored the equalizer in the 36th minute. The first half eventually ended in a 1-1 draw.
As the match entered the second half, both teams made several attempts to take the lead, however, both sides defended their goals well enough to push the game into extra time. After 120 minutes of play, the score still read 1-1, meaning that the outcome of the match will now be decided by penalties, with both teams getting 5 attempts to shoot at the opponent’s goal.
The penalty shootout started with skipper Sunil Chhetri taking the opening shot for India as His strike rattles the net off the bar, giving India a 1-0 lead. Abdullah walked in to take the opening shot for Kuwait, but he couldn’t convert. Team India took advantage of this miss, with Sandesh Jhingan and Chhangte scoring back-to-back goals for the team, giving India a 3-2 lead while Al Otaibi scored for Kuwait.
Al Dheferi scored the second goal for Kuwait followed by the first Indian miss as Udanta Kumam sent the 4th penalty spot over the bar, giving hopes to the Kuwait team of a possible fight back. Naji Mahran stepped up for Kuwait and scored their third goal, despite keeper Gurpreet jumping the right way. Subhashish Bose successfully scored India’s fourth goal, followed by Al-Khaldi who got the equalizer for Kuwait.
With the score tied at 4-4 from the first 5 shots, the game continued into sudden death, where the first hit-and-miss will seal the outcome. Mahesh Singh stepped in to take the crucial spot for India and successfully scored, giving India a 5-4 lead. Kuwait skipper Khalid Hajeyah stepped up for the next spot-kick but found keeper Gurpreet, who made a sublime save to seal the deal for India and win their 9th SAFF title.
Having already won the Intercontinental Cup in the previous month, the SAFF title win propelled India to the 100th spot in the updated FIFA rankings, the team’s best position in the rankings ever. The SAFF win also gave Team India a free pass into the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers to be held later this year. Fans are now eager to see if the loved Indian side can qualify for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
