Star Indian Defender and Captain Sandesh Jhingan were expelled from the remaining CAFA Nations Cup matches after suffering injuries during the Indian 0-3 defeat of Iran, confirmed the All India (AIFF) football Federation.
A 32 -year -old man is an important failure before the final clash of the Indian group B against Afghanistan on Thursday. Blue Tigers are currently sitting second in a group with four teams with three points out of two games, after an exciting 2-1 victory over the hosts of Tajikistan and the subsequent defeat on Asian powerhouse Iran, who at the top of six points. India’s hopes for the third place now are the result against Afghanistan.
Cafa Nations Cup is the newly appointed head coach Khalid Jamil’s first task and Jhingan was key in setting up the team and scored victory against Tajikistan in the opening and played every minute of both matches. Also the captain of the side against Iran and was appointed player of the match in victory over Tajikistan.
“Defender Sandesh Jhingan suffered injuries during the Indian match Cafa Nations Cup 2025 against Iran and was expelled from the remaining matches. Today he will return to India,” AIFF said on X.
India, in the 133th place in the world, amazed 106. Instead of Tajikistan with the first goals from the defenders of Anwar Ali (5th minute) and Jhingan (13 minutes). Despite the heavy loss against Iran, the team remains third in the match in the match if they hold their position.
Jhingan, thinking about the defeat, published on the social media: “Although the score is something that still hurts, there are still many positives of this game. Thank you all who came to the stadium to support and everyone back for us, and beyond.”
The absence of the defender is also worried about his club, FC Goa, in front of his Opener of the AFC Champions League two against Al-Zawra SC (Iraq) September 17th. Jhingan played a key role in the recent victory in Goa against Oman Professional League Champions Al Seeb, which secured the team in the group phase.
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Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
3 September 2025
