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After being eliminated from the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, India will aim to finish on a high and not return empty-handed when they face Mongolia in their last Group A fixture on Wednesday at the Qushaian Al Mutairi Hall in Ardiya.
India has lost both matches so far. The 1-4 defeat to hosts Kuwait was followed by the national team's heaviest defeat in the sport's brief history in the country, 1-10 to Australia on Monday. Later that day, Kuwait's 6-2 win over Mongolia confirmed the Futsal Tigers' elimination in their second appearance in the Qualifiers. "First of all, I am so sorry about the result. All of us are unhappy," said head coach Reza Kordi after the game, as quoted from the official website of AIFF. "In my opinion, we played very, very poorly. Physically, there was too much difference between India and Australia," he added. Unlike the Kuwait game, where India defended more compactly, put their bodies on the line, and generally were more concentrated and composed, Australia's physicality and quicker decision-making left Kordi's side with hardly any answers. Seaon D'Souza's solid first-half finish was the only silver lining in India's ninth international futsal match since the first in 2023. Kordi felt that his boys were not at their physical best, owing to a hard-fought opening match against Kuwait less than 48 hours prior, and, in his opinion, the recovery and preparation for the Australia game were not sufficient. "I think we also couldn't recover properly after the match against Kuwait. Our players gave 100 per cent in that game, and after that, they needed good recovery and rest. Without that, this result happened. Physically, today, we were very bad," said the Iranian. Despite India being out of the reckoning to make the Asian Cup, Wednesday's match against Mongolia could still very well be the most important fixture of these Qualifiers. This is the Futsal Tigers' best chance to win a match for the first time, write their name in the history books and change the face of futsal in India. What is still a sport in its infancy could receive a real boost should Kordi's boys sign off with a groundbreaking victory. Before tactics come motivation, especially after a heavy defeat. Kordi affirmed that while the hunger for victory has grown with every international match they have played, conceding 10 goals is a huge hit to morale. In any case, they must lift themselves and grab this opportunity by the scruff of its neck. This is like a final, and there's no bigger motivation than that. Mongolia will be thinking on similar lines. The East Asians, ranked 110th (25 places above India), have more than 14 years of international futsal experience, but have yet to win a qualifying match since 2018 and will be desperate to end that streak. "It is very important for us to win our first match in futsal," said Kordi. "We are working very hard. In modern futsal, first of all, you need to have motivation, and after that, you can win with tactics and technique. That's why recovery is so important now, and also the mentality of the players. We must motivate them for the last game against Mongolia, and hopefully, we will beat them," he noted. (ANI)
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