India football team beat Bahrain 2-0

The Indian football team began its AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers campaign with a 2-0 win over Bahrain in Doha, Qatar, in Group H on Wednesday.

Muhammed Suhail opened the scoring for India just after the half-hour mark, while Shivaldo Chingangbam netted deep in second-half injury time.

After both sides felt each other out in the early exchanges, Bahrain created two openings in the ninth minute but failed to capitalise on their opportunities.

India managed to spring a counter-attack six minutes later but Parthib Gogoi failed to keep his effort from a Muhammed Suhail cross.

A corner in the 19th minute found Parthib Gogoi unmarked in the box but he couldn’t react in time, allowing the opposition goalkeeper to collect the ball safely.

At the other end, Bahrain counter-attacked with pace as Ebrahim found Mahmood Abdulla from the left only for the latter to miscontrol the ball and miss his opportunity.

India eventually broke the deadlock in the 31st minute when Muhammed Suhail worked his way past an opposition defender on the right with a drop of his shoulder before firing into the far corner to make it 1-0.

Mohammed Sanan K could have doubled India’s lead before half-time, but failed to keep a volley from close range on target as Bahrain went in trailing by a solitary goal at the break.

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