Full time: India 2-1 Afghanistan

FULL TIME: India 2-1 Afghanistan Ugly scenes at the end. Full time goes and there is a massive melee. Looked like the Afghan bench got riled up. Gurpreet might have caught an upper cut on his face. But the group is separated soon. Chhetri then leads his team to appreciate the fans.

90+5’ – India 2-1 Afghanistan: Brandon takes a shot at goal from a short corner. AFG have the ball.

90+4’ – India 2-1 Afghanistan: That goal was the result of Afghanistan to wanting a win. India got space, India made it count.

90+1’ – India 2-1 Afghanistan: SAHAL SCORES! What scenes. Aashique with a through ball, Sahal Abdul Samad with a finish across goal. MAD CELEBRATIONS.

88’ – India 1-1 Afghanistan: Oh dear, Afghanistan score almost immediately after the Chhetri free kick. And not long after the Indian captain is substituted. And he is livid... presumably with the marking for that corner.

SUNIL CHHETRI! What a goal. A superb free kick from the Indian captain, who else. India lead 1-0 after 86 mins.

85’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Kuruniyan does well to win a free kick. Decent central position. SC11 to take it we presume.

83’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: A free kick from some distance but straight at GSS.

80’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Kuruniyan set up a chance a little while back for India but Brandon couldn’t finish. India are in serious danger of dropping points.

74’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: WOW HUGE SAVE BY GURPREET! That could have been curtains for India.

73’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: CHANCE! Brandon with this 756th corner for India, and Anwar Ali with a good chance. The header is over. That was a big chance.

68’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Jeakson comes off, Glan Martins come on. Haroon Amir gets a yellow card in the meantime.

66’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Cramp for Jeakson maybe? He is down. Might be a sub about to happen.

64’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: HUGE CHANCE FOR AFGHANISTAN! Free header from not long away but it is glanced wide.

56’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Brandon comes on for Liston. Can he create some chances here for his side?

55’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Oh Sandesh had to be at his best to tackle a near 1v1.

52’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Chhetri had a big chance to score from close range but he could get that extra few cms of space. India are piling on the pressure.

46’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Second half begins, Sandesh remains on the pitch for India. Might have just been cramp that.

Half time, India 0-0 Afghanistan: A look at the first half stats.

HALF TIME – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Jhingan managed to get back on the pitch for now to continue, may be was just a cramp. We’ll know more soon. For now, it’s half time. Frustrating 45 minutes for India.

45’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Three added minutes as another corner comes and goes. Oh dear, Sandesh has pulled up with a calf issue as Afghan look to counter. He did his job but went down after that.

44’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: The wall staying true to that word. Chhetri with a couple of shots and then Anwar. It all comes to a corner for India.

42’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Liston’s shirt being pulled and it is a great central free kick position. Liston to take this? No SC11 pulls rank.

40’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: India continue to target the flanks and cutting back. But it is not paying off yet. The possession numbers are 52-48 at the moment, India have evidently given up the ball a bit more now.

2017 U17 anyone?

35’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Omid replaces Sharif. India must reset and go again.

33’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Eventually the corner is taken by Liston as Sharif limps off, no way he can continue.

30’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: An Afghan player is down and there is a lengthy break in play. Sharif Mukhammad with a hamstring issue but he is looking to carry on with a strapping. Players use this break to hydrate.

23’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Wow, tempers flaring. India are not happy evidently with some tackling. Unlike the first match, the referee keeping the cards in his pocket for this one... oh scratch that, the Afghan captain does get booked. The foul was by Ashique but Noor gets the yellow for his reactions.

20’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Now back to back corners for Afghanistan.

16’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: CHANCE! Probably the best corner that has come in, Roshan with a lovely left-foot cross from the set-piece and it finds Jeakson Singh. The glancing header is just over.

14’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Good pressure from India here, Akash from the left flank with a good cutback to find SC11 but Afghan deal with it. Another corner for India. Results in another.

12’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Colaco with his CR7-esque free kick style. It’s a bit far, he gets it over the wall but there is no coming down for this one. Keeps going, high and over.

8’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: A third corner in the first 10 mins for India. The crossing is better here but Afghanistan hold and what more, have a good chance on counter. But Suresh deals with it.

7’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: A rather extravagant fall from Manvir after a tackle inside the box. Nothing comes from the referee. India keep the pressure up.

5’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Without Brandon and Thapa, the set pieces could be an issue for India? First corner, and it comes to nothing.

3’ – India 0-0 Afghanistan: Indians start on the front foot as expected. Kuruniyan involved early on down the left.

Earlier today: Hong Kong defeated Cambodia by 3-0. It puts all the pressure on India for this one. They can’t afford anything other than a win.

National anthems done (no glitches today). We are all set for the start.

Hello and welcome to our live blog on the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers where Sunil Chhetri and Co take on Afghanistan.

Details about the qualifiers:

There are 24 teams competing across six groups in six centralised venues – Kuwait (Group A), Mongolia (Group B), Uzbekistan (Group C), India (Group D), Malaysia (Group E) and Kyrgyz Republic (Group F). The 24 teams will compete over three Matchdays on June 8, 11 and 14 for the 11 remaining spots in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup tournament proper.

The six group winners and five best second-placed teams will join 2015 winners Australia, defending champions Qatar, China, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea Republic, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and Vietnam in the Finals.

— Information via AFC

Screenshots in the blog courtesy: Disney+Hotstar in India