The international match between India and Maldives will be held at the Polo Ground in Shillong on Wednesday (19/3/2025) at 7.00 IST. This friendly match was held ahead of the Asian Cup qualifying round next week. Both countries suffered quick eliminations from World Cup qualifying.
The long journey towards the 2027 Asian Cup will begin for both of them after this friendly match. India were the heavy favourites and it showed from then on, as they crashed out, finishing bottom of the group, which also included Qatar and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile Kuwait qualified, and still have a big chance of reaching next summer’s finals. Picking up just two points and scoring two goals from their remaining five qualifying matches has dashed India’s hopes of winning the World Cup for the first time. And they also lost all three of their Asian Cup group games without scoring a goal.
Manolo Marquez took over after that disappointment, but he has failed to lead India to victory in their four friendlies so far. They were held to draws by Mauritius, Vietnam and Malaysia, while suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Syria. The Spanish coach will leave his role at Indian giants FC Goa at the end of the season to focus fully on the national team.
They are looking to reach the Asia Cup, which starts against Bangladesh next week. Maldives will also begin their campaign next week, facing the Philippines away from home, after a very busy schedule over the past 18 months.
The visitors crashed out of World Cup qualifying at the first hurdle, losing 3-2 on aggregate against Bangladesh in October 2023, and they have played just two friendlies since then, both against the same opponents.
Both were decided by odd goals, with Maldives winning one and losing one.
New coach Ali Suzain will hope that the recent lack of action does not hurt their chances of a surprise Asian Cup qualification.
Suzain returned for a second term and remains the only Maldivian to hold this post permanently.
Hopefully, they can start 2025 well by improving their disappointing record against India .
India vs Maldives Prediction
Maldives may have beaten their opponents in the 2018 South Asian Championship final, but it was one of just two wins in their previous 16 matches, with the last head-to-head match ending 3-1 in India’s favour.
Sunil Chhetri from India, who is now 40 years old.
He has come out of retirement to feature here, and will continue to target his 100th international goal, which he currently stands at 94, with some lucrative fixtures also on the cards.
Chhetri will be without influential forward Lallianzuala Chhangte, as he has withdrawn from the squad due to injury, along with Ashish Rai, who will also not join the squad.
Sahal Abdul Samad is a long-term absentee for India , and he joins defenders Jay Gupta and Anwar Ali who are out of the squad due to injury.
Maldives will look to 36-year-old Ali Fasir for inspiration, as he scored in both recent friendlies against Bangladesh, while also being the top scorer and most capped player in the squad.
Suzain called up nine uncapped players for his last squad, and after such a long absence from competitive action, there could be debuts for many this week.
India’s possible starting lineup:
A. Singh; Bheke, Jhingan, Bose, NR Singh; Wangjam, Apuia, Fernandes; Yadwad, S. Chhetri, Choudhary
Possible Maldives line-ups:
Share; Samooh, Sifaau, H. Hassan, Shifaz; H. Mohamed, Mahudhee, Nihan, Irufaan, N. Hassan; Fasir
Neither team is in top form in this fixture, but India are ranked 36th in the world rankings, meaning they will be hoping to get the better of the visitors.
Maldives have played just twice in 18 months, and need to bounce back quickly ahead of next week’s start of Asian Cup qualifying , and this match could serve just that purpose.
Score Prediction: India 2-1 Maldives
