Indian football team: How have the Blue Tigers performed under head coach Igor Stimac?
India went down 3-0 against Vietnam in the Hung Thinh tournament at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Tuesday.
India have played 30 matches so far under the Croatian Coach's tutelage out of which they have won nine times, lost 11 matches, and drew 10 times.
The Blue Tigers' first win came against Thailand on June 8, 2019, in the King's Cup in Buriram where Anirudh Thapa's strike had made the difference.
In his stint so far, the former Croatian international handed debuts to as many as 22 Indian footballers.
How has India performed under Igor Stimac?
| Date | Match | Competition | Indian Goalscorers | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 5, 2019 | Curacao 3-1 India | King's Cup | Sunil Chhetri | Buriram |
| June 8, 2019 | India 1-0 Thailand | King's Cup | Anirudh Thapa | Buriram |
| July 7, 2019 | India 2-4 Tajikistan | Intercontinental Cup | Sunil Chhetri (2) | Ahmedabad |
| July 13, 2019 | India 2-5 DPR Korea | Intercontinental Cup | Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sunil Chhetri | Ahmedabad |
| July 16, 2019 | India 1-1 Syria | Intercontinental Cup | Narender Gahlot | Ahmedabad |
| September 5, 2019 | India 1-2 Oman | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | Sunil Chhetri | Guwahati |
| September 10, 2019 | Qatar 0-0 India | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | - | Doha |
| October 15, 2019 | India 1-1 Bangladesh | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | Adil Khan | Kolkata |
| November 14, 2019 | Afghanistan 1-1 India | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | Len Doungel | Dushanbe |
| November 19, 2019 | Oman 1-0 India | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | - | Muscat |
| March 25, 2021 | Oman 1-1 India | International friendly | Manvir Singh | Dubai |
| March 29, 2021 | UAE 6-0 India | International friendly | - | Dubai |
| June 3, 2021 | India 0-1 Qatar | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | - | Doha |
| June 7, 2021 | Bangladesh 0-2 India | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | Sunil Chhetri (2) | Doha |
| June 15, 2021 | India 1-1 Afghanistan | 2022 World Cup qualifiers | Ovays Azizi (OG) | Doha |
| September 2, 2021 | Nepal 1-1 India | International friendly | Anirudh Thapa | Kathmandu |
| September 5, 2021 | Nepal 1-2 India | International friendly | Farukh Chaudhary, Sunil Chhetri | Kathmandu |
| October 4, 2021 | Bangladesh 1-1 India | SAFF Championship 2021 | Sunil Chhetri | Male |
| October 7, 2021 | India 0-0 Sri Lanka | SAFF Championship 2021 | - | Male |
| October 10, 2021 | Nepal 0-1 India | SAFF Championship 2021 | Sunil Chhetri | Male |
| October 13, 2021 | India 3-1 Maldives | SAFF Championship 2021 | Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri (2) | Male |
| October 16, 2021 | India 3-0 Nepal | SAFF Championship 2021 | Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad | Male |
March 23, 2022 | Bahrain 2-1 India | International friendly | Rahul Bheke | Riffa |
March 26, 2022 | India 0-3 Belarus | International friendly | - | Doha |
May 27 | India 0-2 Jordan | International friendly | - | Doha |
June 8 | India 2-0 Cambodia | 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | Sunil Chhetri (2) | Kolkata |
June 11 | Afghanistan 1-2 India | 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | Sunil Chhetri, Sahal Abdul Samad | Kolkata |
June 14 | India 4-0 Hong Kong | 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | Anwar Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh, Ishan Pandita | Kolkata |
September 24 | India 1-1 Singapore | Hung Thinh tournament | Ashique Kuruniyan | Ho Chi Minh City |
September 27 | Vietnam 3-0 India | Hung Thinh tournament | - |
Challenges faced by coach Igor Stimac
The biggest challenge that the Croatian faced as India's coach was the 16 months gap where the Indian national team did not play a single game due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After a busy 2019, where the Blue Tigers played 10 matches under Stimac's tutelage, not a single international match was played in 2020.
Thus after playing their last competitive game in November 2019, it was only in March 2021, that Stimac got to reassemble the squad. India played two friendly matches against Oman and UAE in March 2021.