Afghanistan's national football team on Tuesday won 2-1 against India in the return match of the preliminary games for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup.

India's Sunil Chhetri scored the first goal in the first half of the game, putting India ahead one to zero.

The students of Ashley Westwood showed a different game in the second half of this match. 

The national players carried out continuous attacks with the goal of compensating for the goal and finally, Rahmat Akbari scored the equalizing goal in the 70th minute of the game.

The pressure of the country's players on the Indians increased, and eventually a penalty was awarded in favor of the national team of the country. Sharif Mohammad converted the penalty into a goal in the 88 minute of the game.
"In the current situation and the conspiracy that was against Afghan football, we were able to achieve a victory against India with the management of the Afghan Football Federation," said Mohammad Yousef Kargar, head of the Afghanistan Football Federation.

The victory and performance of the national team's players led to widespread reactions on social media, and a number of well-known national athletes from various sports, especially cricketers, praised the performance of the national football team.

"We won the game 2-1 from a 0-1 situation, and we are very happy about this victory. We support the national football players. This victory is a great honor under the current conditions," Nasser, a resident of Kabul, told TOLOnews.

The national football team is currently in third place in the group after Qatar and India with four points, and Kuwait is at the bottom of the group.