India suffered a 1-3 defeat to Tajikistan in the first of two international warm-up matches

India’s struggles under new head coach Khalid Jamil continued as the Blue Tigers suffered a 1-3 defeat against higher-ranked Tajikistan in the first of two international football warm-ups at the TALCO Arena in Tursunzod on Friday.

The loss marked India’s third straight defeat in international qualifiers after their disappointing campaign at the Unity Cup 2026 in London, where they lost 0-2 to Jamaica and 0-1 to Zimbabwe without scoring a goal.

Tajikistan took control of the match early on when Sheriddin Boboev converted a penalty in the ninth minute to give the visitors the lead. India struggled to create meaningful openings against a disciplined Tajik defense in the first half and went a goal down at the break.

The home team tightened the match after the restart and added two more goals within six minutes. Mekhrubon Karimov doubled Tajikistan’s lead in the 61st minute before Ehson Panjshanbe effectively sealed the result with a third goal in the 67th minute.

India put up some fight in the closing stages and managed to pull one back through substitute Farukh Choudhary. The striker produced a superb finish from a free-kick in the 88th minute to score India’s first goal in the last three matches, but it proved to be little more than a consolation.

The friendly was part of India’s preparations for the upcoming continental assignments, with Jamil continuing to assess his team and experiment with combinations against quality opposition.

Despite the defeat, the Indian coach will take some positives from the second-half response as his team tried to push forward after the break. However, defensive errors and a lack of cutting edge in attack again proved costly against a well-organised Tajikistan unit.

The two teams will meet again in the second and final friendly on June 9, giving India another chance to end their losing streak and build momentum ahead of future international engagements.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

05 June 2026 23:30 IST