Many South Asian teams, such as Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are currently participating in the FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers. All the mentioned teams have made it to the second round of qualification and are now each in groups of 4.
India beat Kuwait 1-0 in their first match of the second round of qualification, whom they also beat in the final of the SAFF Championship back in July. However, the fans’ jubilation from this victory was short lived, as they lost 3-0 to Qatar today.
Pakistan won their first ever world cup qualifier against Cambodia to take them through to the second round. Although they lost both their following matches (4-0 against Saudi Arabia and 6-1 against Tajikistan), their win against Cambodia marked a historic moment in Pakistani football.
Bangladesh had a rocky start in the second round of qualification, losing 7-0 against Australia in the first match. Nonetheless, they managed a draw against Lebanon in their following game, still however, sitting at the bottom of their group.
Nepal also sit at the bottom of their group, after a 4-0 loss to the UAE and a 2-0 loss to Yemen. Meanwhile, Afghanistan lost their first match 8-1 against Qatar.
Progression to the next round seems difficult for all of these teams barring India. Yet, many of them have proven that they have the potential to develop into great footballing nations in the future.