The India national team completed its international window with a 6-1 loss to Uruguay at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, India, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, in a game that, according to
The Week was "a four-star test" after having played a five-star test against Brazil just a few days ago. This leaves India with results of a 1-1 draw against Panama, a 0-4 loss against Brazil,
and now a 6-1 loss against Uruguay after playing against three very different types of teams within the span of only three games.
Diego Forlan's Uruguay, rated a staggering 118 places ahead of India in the FIFA rankings at world number 20, started off the game pressing high from the get-go, but India, rather than folding under pressure, matched them in intensity at the beginning of the match.
It all began when Darwin Nunez found himself the first on the scoresheet via the spot kick at the 12th minute mark. This came after Uruguay were handed a penalty after 19-year-old center back Pramveer Singh was found guilty of an overly aggressive challenge in the box.
Instead of giving up, India came out even better, with Anirudh Thapa restoring parity at the 22nd minute mark thanks to a fast counterattack instigated by Ryan Williams through the midfield.
As stated by The Week, this period saw India play its most exciting football in the entire international window, with India outshooting the Uruguayan team and getting more entries into the attacking third.
Uruguay retook the lead on the cusp of the interval, though, when Maxi Araújo nodded home a low cross by Nahitán Nández in the 28th minute, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead in a shock blow that followed hot on the heels of a period where India had been the dominant side.
The first half finished 2-1 to Uruguay, which didn’t necessarily reflect how India had played but certainly set them up for a tougher 45 minutes to follow.
It became evident very early on in the second half that Diego Forlán's men were going to be far more comfortable coming out after the break, as India quickly lost their momentum.
Within a minute of the half-time whistle, Araújo extended his tally with his second of the match, slotting home a neat pass through the India defense by Federico Viñas to make it 4-1, after scoring only a moment earlier through Rodrigo Zalazar.
Uruguay had previously widened the margin to 3-1 through Rodrigo Zalazar in the 53rd minute, scoring through a pass from Núñez.
while Juan Sanabria got the fifth goal of the night in the 71st minute through a volleyed finish of a deflected cross from Facundo Pellistri amidst various substitutions made by both teams.
Lastly, in the 86th minute of play, Rodrigo Aguirre put the game completely out of reach by scoring in the top corner past a substitute goalkeeper, Albino Gomes, who came in for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the 57th minute, and making it a 6-1 scoreline.
Moreover, there was a disruption caused by bad weather, which made the already one-sided match even more chaotic.
However, it did not matter much since Uruguay continued to have complete control of the game after the resumption and went on to dominate possession by the end of the match in a 60-40 ratio.
India’s coach, Khalid Jamil’s team, will now have their eyes on a much easier challenge as the country is slated to play New Zealand in November.
The week's assessment of the window found that there were some issues that India must correct prior to facing New Zealand, and they included poor defensive coordination,
especially when it came to set pieces such as the penalty given to Uruguay. This was coupled with indecisiveness in the final third area as well. These problems were quite evident even during the games against Brazil and Panama within the window.
