No VAR! India's FIFA World Cup 2026 dream shattered by controversial goal

India’s dream of playing in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier Round 3 came crashing down in the 73rd minute after Qatar’s Yousef Aymen scored the controversial goal, followed by the winning goal in the 85th minute.

The Indian team were leading after it scored a goal in the 37th minute, but disaster struck when the referee gave Yousef Aymen’s goal in the 73rd minute as fair after the ball appeared to have gone out of play.

On June 11, a controversial refereeing decision during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between India and Qatar sparked a massive row after India suffered defeat.

Ranked 121 in the world, India was leading with Lallianzuala Chhangte scoring a goal in the 37th minute, marking the first time Qatar had trailed in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.
 

However, in the 73rd minute, Qatar’s Yousef Aymen scored a goal that the Indian team disputed, as the ball had gone out of play at the baseline before the goal was scored.
 

As the goal was scored, the Qatari footballers defended their act and celebrated the goal, but the Indian players protested the decision, and approached the linesman, but their appeals were unsuccessful.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu approached the line referee to explain that the ball was out of play and the goal is invalid. But no heed was paid to any requests by the Indian side. Despite protests, the referee ruled the goal as fair, levelling the match at 1-1.

Moreover, the video assistant referee (VAR) was not used during the India vs Qatar match.

Qatar scored their second goal through Ahmed Al-Rawi in the 85th minute, sealing their victory.

Amid the exit of the Indian football team from the FIFA World Cup 2026 due to the controversial goal, head coach Igor Stimac said that the chances India had were better than Qatar. “I would say that there is nothing to complain about my boys’ display today. They were fantastic. All Indian fans can be proud of their team today. We controlled the game for a major part, with a high press against a good Qatari team. You could say that the chances of India had been better than Qatar.”

The Croatian professional football manager said the Indian team should have scored thrice in the first half to seal the game. “But there is something which is missing in Indian football, and that’s clinical reactions inside the box,” he said.

Commenting on the controversial goal that helped Qatar level the scores in the 73rd minute, Stimac said, “Qatar were lucky tonight, especially because they came back from 0-1 with an irregular goal. I can confirm that now because I have seen the replay. The whole ball was out of play and the goal was given. It shouldn’t be happening in today’s football because that goal changed everything in this game. It could've happened to Qatar today and I would say the same. I’m not looking for an excuse.”

He further added, “I feel sad that when you have 23 boys working really hard and living the dream, to achieve something, and that dream is killed because we didn't stop such things from happening.”

Following the goal in the 73rd minute by Qatar, the Indian players protested against the goal but the match officials awarded the goal to Qatar.

Match referee Kim Woo-sung consulted with the lineman and stayed with his initial decision. The match did not have the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system as the second round matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers did not have the VAR system.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is a technology-aided officiating system intended to assist the on-field referees in a football match.

The referee in the India vs Qatar football match was Kim Woo-Sung from South Korea. He had earlier officiated the World Cup qualification match between Hong Kong and Uzbekistan in March this year.

Woo-Sung regularly officiates in the K-League, the premier division of men's football in South Korea. He has also served as the referee for group stage matches in the AFC Cup and its qualifying playoffs.

Below is a list of match officials during the India vs Qatar match:

-Assistant referee 1: Kang Dong Ho

-Assistant referee 2: Cheon Jin Hee

-Fourth official: Abdyldaev Daiyrbek

-Match commissioner: Hamed Momeni

-Referee assessor: Basel Al Hajjar

Taking to social media platforms, football fans labelled the referee’s decision as ‘blatant cheating’ and accused him of taking away India’s chance of advancing to the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026.