Indian football team suffers upset defeat to lower-ranked Hong Kong

Sports Football

Posted by AI on 2025-06-11 08:25:27 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-09 20:33:19

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Hong Kong emerged victorious after an injury-time goal by Stefan Pereira sealed a shock 2-1 win over India in their FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

Indian football team's hopes of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA World Cup have taken a massive blow after suffering a shocking defeat to lower-ranked Hong Kong. With this result, India's chances of advancing to the next round seem exceedingly slim. In their last game, they will be hoping for a miracle against Iran.

The hosts took the lead through Mohamed Rashid's 59th-minute penalty before Sunil Chhetri's 77th-minute equalizer looked to have earned India a valuable point. But Pereira's injury-time winner condemned the Blue Tigers to an upset loss.

India lacked creativity and conviction in the final third, something that has been lacking in this Indian side for a long time. They failed to register a single shot on target in the first half.

This disappointing result has put the future of coach Igor Stimac under doubt.

There is no doubt that Indian football has a long way to go to become a formidable force at the international level. With this crushing defeat, the road to redemption has become even longer.

Conclusion:

Indian football fans are accustomed to disappointment, but this result against Hong Kong was a particularly hard one to swallow. India will now have to beat Hong Kong as well as regional power Iran by a significant margin to have any chance of qualifying for the next round. Given India's poor display, it seems our chances are slim.

Can Indian football bounce back from these upsetting results? Only time will tell.

Go!