Kuwait vs India Match Details
Date: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Time: 22:00
Venue: Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City
Streaming Details: SonyLiv
Kuwait vs India Match Preview
Kuwait has experienced a fantastic period in 2023 defeating higher-ranked nations than them like Syria in the last friendly and UAE in the Gulf Cup. Al-Azraq only suffered three defeats this year although one of them came against India in the SAFF Championship final in July. They lost in a dramatic penalty shootout that ended 5-4 at Kanteerava in Bangalores. Kuwait will have the Blue Tigers visit again for their FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers opener again. The Middle Eastern side has an unpleasant memory last time they played this fixture at home, losing a thriller 3-2 in an international friendly match. However, Kuwait will take interest in the fact that they halted India’s winning streak this year and also the clean sheet record in the 1-1 draw at the group stages of the SAFF Championship, their other meeting in the competition. Kuwait has appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1982. This is their 14th participation in the qualifiers of the
competition and they will hope to make it to the next round with Qatar and Afghanistan being the other opponents in the group.
India will also take to the pitch hoping to qualify for Round 3 of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time in their history. Igor Stimac’s side has been building for a long time for these crucial ties in November with Qatar to play in the next game at home after the Kuwait trip and the Asian Cup in January next year. The Blue Tigers enjoyed a trophy-laden 2023 winning three straight trophies on home soil for the first time but their worry in away games continued. Two of the last three such ties ended controversially due to referring decisions, a 2-2 draw against Iraq in the King’s Cup and a 4-2 loss to Malaysia in the Merdeka Cup, although performance was also not up to the mark. The last away tie India won outside of South Asia was against Bangladesh in the previous World Cup Qualifiers hosted in Qatar back in 2021. Stimac will have to take a hard look at the record before taking on Kuwait away which will be a different ball game than the previous two meetings. India hopes their tenth participation in the qualifiers have a better return than last time.
Recent Form
KUW: WLLWD
IND: LLDWW
Kuwait vs India Head to head
Played - 5
KUW won - 2
Drawn - 1
IND won - 2
Check here in details: India vs Kuwait Head to Head
Kuwait vs India Predicted Lineups
KUW: Al-Saanoun; Al-Bloushi, Hajiah, Al-Enezi, Muhaisen; Khalaf, Al-Enezi, Al-Rashidi; Dashti, Al-Faneeni, Al-Awadi
IND: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Nikhil Poojary, Sandesh Jhingan, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra; Anirudh Thapa, Apuia; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sahal Abdul Samad, Naorem Mahesh Singh; Sunil Chhetri
Also check out India squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
