Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan have already taken six of Asia's eight guaranteed spots at next year's 48-team World Cup.
India narrowly missed out on qualifying for the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup despite a dominant 6-0 victory over Brunei Darussalam.
Mandaviya addresses state of Indian football
'Indians living in Qatar will play a significant role in making the 2022 World Cup a success'
Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Stimac, whose contract was terminated on Monday, coached India for five years.
Just a few days back it seemed like Qatar, which has strict controls on alcohol, would relax their laws for the football extravaganza as consuming alcohol in public places is illegal in the Gulf country.
The AIFF thanked Qatar Football Association (QFA) for allowing the team to arrive much before the matches and have a preparatory camp in Doha. QFA also used its good offices to allow the Indians start training without serving 10-day hard quarantine.
A defiant FIFA President Sepp Blatter declared there was no moving the 2022 World Cup form Qatar, despite widespread concerns about the bidding process that took the tournament to the Middle East for the first time.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a two-year contract extension with Al Nassr, the Saudi Pro League side announced on Thursday, which will keep the Portuguese forward at the club well past his 42nd birthday.
The 48-team World Cup will adopt a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 - the same as the expanded men's World Cup in 2026 - and extending the tournament by one week.
Qatar will begin sifting through fan feedback from the Club World Cup to see how it can provide supporters with a successful World Cup in 2022, but cultural differences will be a tricky challenge to surmount. Drinking and partying can be a tricky concept in a country with strict restrictions on alcohol consumption and low tolerance for rowdiness.
The senior India squad began its preparatory camp in Bengaluru on August 15 ahead of next month's CAFA Nations Cup, but 13 players, including seven from Mohun Bagan, have skipped the camp.
Khalfan Fahad fired into the far post from in front of an open goal in an inexplicable miss on Monday that cost defending champion Qatar a spot in the Asian Games football quarter-finals.
Spectators have been urged to respect Qatar's legal and cultural norms, including its restrictions on drinking, drugs, sexual activity, and attire.
Iranian footballer Voria Ghafouri was arrested on Thursday for his criticism of Iran's ayatollahs and mullahs.
'So being here means we deserve to be here, it's not a change or because we are women.'
The rumblings of discontent from Righteous Europe over Qatar's admittedly appalling human rights record can only be viewed as deeply disingenuous and phoney, argues Kanika Datta.
PSG's focus on unity, tactical discipline and collective effort has drawn widespread plaudits ahead of their showdown with Inter Milan, who eliminated Barcelona after a thrilling semi-final.
Dutch fans right to boycott World Cup-Van Gaal
The 2022 Qatar World Cup has produced some very odd results, which is why it's been so much fun.
India let in two goals in the last 10 minutes after leading 1-0 to suffer a heartbreaking 1-2 loss to defending champions Qatar in their second group match of the Asian Games football competition in Guangzhou.
The All India Football Federation is exploring the possibility of selecting Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) for the Indian football team.
In 2015, FIFA recommended that Qatar host a shorter World Cup over the cooler months of November and December in a move that was sure to put soccer's world governing body on a collision course with the major European leagues.
France football great Marcel Desailly does not feel that visa issues relating to entering the United States will have any impact on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The 24-team Asian Cup will unfold on the same grounds as the men's World Cup where Yamashita served as the fourth official for six group stage games. Her return to Qatar signals a significant progression in the inclusion of female referees in high-profile men's soccer tournaments.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar and PSG's owner, was a happy man as he enveloped PSG players Messi, Mbappe and Angel Di Maria with a warm hug.
Awarding the 2022 football World Cup to Qatar's desert state was a "blatant mistake" FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger said on Wednesday, adding that staging the tournament in winter would be just as big a problem.
Some soccer players have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling to the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against.
Saudi Arabia will host the men's soccer World Cup in 2034 while the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one-off matches in three South American countries, world soccer's governing body FIFA confirmed on Wednesday.
Scaloni also spoke about former Argentina forward Angel Di Maria's decision to retire from international football after winning his second Copa America trophy last year.
Sadio Mane injured his right fibula playing for German club Bayern Munich.
Qatar said on Wednesday there was no way it would be stripped of the right to host the World Cup despite the corruption scandal surrounding FIFA, dismissing a 'bashing campaign' of criticism of its 2022 bid as anti-Arab prejudice.
Huge cutouts of football stars including Messi, Neymar Jr and Ronaldo can be seen across the state.
Roberto Mancini has resigned as head coach of the Italian national team.
Gianni Infantino wants the world to 'focus on the football'
Iraq want their World Cup qualifier against Palestine next month moved from the Jordanian capital of Amman, having also knocked back a Palestinian proposal to stage the match just outside Jerusalem.
Though many outsiders expect Qatar to be soundly drubbed in all three games, home fans know forwards Akram Afif and Almoez Ali have both talent and experience and pray they can penetrate an Ecuador team themselves struggling to score of late.
Kawasaki Frontale's Tatsuya Ito compared lining up beside Cristiano Ronaldo before their Asian Champions League Elite semi-final to being in "a video game", as the J-League outfit handed the Saudi club a 3-2 defeat to progress to the final.
The home team froze under the weight of expectation and quickly went behind in Sunday's opener, losing 2-0 to Ecuador
