In the just-concluded World Cup qualifiers, an unexpected scene appeared. The Indian men's football team, which was originally widely favored, suffered 1 draw and 1 loss in a row against the bottom of the group Afghanistan, which dealt a serious blow to their promotion situation. On the other side, the Afghan men's football team defeated India with a score of 2-1 away from home, successfully turned the tables and re-entered the battle for qualification.
The result of this match was undoubtedly a great shock. As a low-key team in the entire Asian World Preliminary Tournament, Afghanistan lost to strong teams Kuwait and Qatar in the first two rounds, and once fell to the bottom of the group. However, who would have thought that after the subsequent double defeat of India, they would not only tie India in the standings, but also regain their hopes of qualifying.
It is worth mentioning that this Afghan team not only narrowly beat India with a score of 2-1 away from home, but also their overall form and fighting spirit are also impressive. In the face of the slightly superior Indian team, the Afghan team was not afraid at all, but successfully won back a city with excellent organizational skills and fighting spirit. This is undoubtedly a wake-up call for other teams, and it has also brought the originally underestimated Afghan team back to the spotlight.
However, this does not mean that the Afghan team will easily advance to the next round. After all, with the final two rounds of the group stage remaining, Afghanistan are facing no opponents. They will next face Qatar and Kuwait, both of whom are undoubtedly Asian powerhouses, and Afghanistan still have a long way to go if they are to remain unbeaten in both games.
At the same time, we must also note that with these two consecutive wins, the Afghan team's qualification situation is not completely secure. Because according to the current points situation, India and Kuwait are still in a position to keep up with Afghanistan. In other words, if Afghanistan lose in the final two rounds, their qualification hopes will still be seriously threatened.
This once again reflects the cruelty of the Asian World Preliminaries. As an extremely tough group, no team can afford to take it lightly here. Even the Afghan team, which was originally considered weak, can find a place in this group once they play at the level they should have.
This undoubtedly also sounded the alarm hook for our national football team. As we all know, the performance of the national football team in the group stage of the Asian World Preliminary Championship was not satisfactory. Although they are currently 3 points ahead of the Thai team, they are still a long way from the goal of securing the qualification for the first round.
If before, the national football team could still count on winning the Thai team to advance to the first round, then the performance of the Afghan team has undoubtedly disrupted the established plan of the national football team. Because we must be soberly aware that the strength of the Thai team is indeed not completely weaker than the national football team, and their recent performance has also improved, which means that the national football team may encounter greater difficulties in the last two rounds of games.
Even, we have to consider an extreme situation: if the national football team unexpectedly loses against Thailand at home in the next round, then even if they get 10 points, they may be eliminated due to goal difference or goal difference. This is undoubtedly a heart-wrenching outcome, but we must also face up to the possibility.
Therefore, I believe that the national football team must always maintain a high degree of vigilance in the upcoming two key battles and must not take it lightly. They will need to adjust their form and prepare well as soon as possible to ensure a good result in Thailand and South Korea and advance to the next round.
Of course, we can't ignore some of the difficulties that the national football team is currently facing. For example, the ups and downs of the players' state, as well as problems at the tactical execution level, etc., may have a certain impact on the road of the national football team to the World Preliminary Championships. However, I believe that as long as the national football team is united and fully mobilizes its fighting spirit, it will be able to overcome difficulties and advance smoothly at this critical moment.
After all, for such a national team with rich experience and excellent talents, advancing to the round of 16 is undoubtedly a basic requirement for their strength. What we should pay more attention to is how they perform in the follow-up of the World Preliminary Tournament, whether they can achieve better results, and strive for more possibilities for the national football team to participate in the World Cup.
In short, this battle of Afghanistan vs India, which shocked the world, undoubtedly gave the national football team and the participating teams in the entire Asian World Preliminary Tournament a heavy thought. We must learn from this and fully realize that the Asian football landscape is changing subtly and that no team should take it lightly. Only by truly attaching 100% attention and preparation can the national football team be expected to achieve ideal results in this thrilling journey of the World Preliminaries.
Let's wait and see, and look forward to the national football team being able to play its due strength in the next two key battles, successfully advance to the next round, and finally realize the dream of returning to the World Cup!