Coach Igor Stimac announces preliminary squad for 2022 World Cup qualifiers

Indian head coach Igor Stimac on Monday announced the 34-member preliminary squad for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

The team would be taking on Oman in their first match of the tournament on September 5 in Guwahati, goal.com reported.

After the match against Oman, the team will lock horns with Qatar on September 10.

Earlier, team India had dropped two places to settle at 103 in the FIFA rankings updated on July 25.

The team had 1219 points but it came down to 1214 points as it lost two matches against Tajikistan 2-4 and DPR Korea 2-5, respectively.

Blue Tigers then played a stale-mate 1-1 against Syria in the recently-concluded Intercontinental Cup held in Ahmedabad.

Indian 34-member preliminary squad for the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifying tournament:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh, Vishal Kaith.

Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Nishu Kumar, Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali (Jr.), Narender Gahlot, Sarthak Golui, Adil Khan, Salam Ranjan Singh, Subhasish Bose, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Mandar Rao Dessai.

Midfielders: Nikhil Poojary, Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Raynier Fernandes, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul Samad, Amarjit Singh, Pronay Halder, Brandon Fernandes, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan.

Forwards: Balwant Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Jobby Justin, Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh.