India ‘Robbed’ vs Qatar as Referee Howler Knocks Blue Tigers Out of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers; Fans Heartbroken – News18

The Indian Football team was at the receiving end of a howler from the referee and the linesman as Qatar found the back of the net to level, against India in their FIFA World Cup Qualifier Round 2 match, in the 73rd minute of the game as Qatar put the ball into the back of the net after the ball had clearly gone out of bounds before Ahmed Al Rawi beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from outside the box to give the hosts the win.

India had to win the game in order to secure a historic qualification to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In the 73rd minute of the game, the ball which had clearly gone past the limits of play was pulled back in by a Qatari player for Al Hasmeni Al Hussein as Youssef Ayman tapped it into the back of an empty net.

The Indian unit rose up in protest, but the cries fell on deaf ears as the linesman and the official had let one slide right under their nose.

India looked spirit despite the calamitous error, as they surged ahead looking for a goal to reestablish the lead that would have carried them into the next round, but were left heartbroken as Ahmed Al Rawi, who had a forgettable showing on the day up until the 85th minutes beat the Indian custodian from outside the area to give his sie the win and shatter the hopes of the Indian faithful.

The Indian fans took to social media to vent their frustration as #Shame started to trend on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The Blue Tigers, who began the night in second place in the group, were relegated to third place after the defeat, thus losing the opportunity to make it to Round 3 of the World Cup qualifiers. They will now proceed to the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Third Round qualification.