WATCH: India vs Afghanistan AFC Asian Cup qualifier match witnesses brawl after final whistle, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu punched

India football team had a wonderful outing at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on Saturday (June 11). Sunil Chhetri-led India defeated Afghanistan 2-1 to get one step closer to book their spot in the AFC Asian Cup 2023. However, the high-intensity contest turned into a brawl after the final whistle as a group of players from both nations were exchanging punches.

India skipper Sunil Chhetri scored the first of the night with a curling free-kick past the Afghanistan goalkeeper. The opposition replied quickly after two minutes to level the score late in the game at the 89th minute. After Chhetri's goal and Afghanistan's comeback, Udanta Singh and Sahal Abdul were brought on in the 89th minute in place of Sunil Chhetri and Manvir Singh.

India's Sahal Abdul Samad scored a stunner in injury time to clinch the victory for India with a scoreline of 2-1.

Checkout the video of the brawl here...

India vs Afghanistan Fight #IndianFootball #ISL #BlueTigers pic.twitter.com/jlvU1P8CKe — Navaneed M (@mattathil777777) June 12, 2022

What happened?

After the final whistle, Afghanistan players were clearly not happy losing the game by such fine margin and a late goal from India. As a result, they went to the Indian contingent to ask some questions which turned into a heated arguement. In the video, two of India and three of Afghanistan players are seen pushing and shoving each other.

During the fight, India's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was seen trying to calm down the players but he was smacked by an Afghanistani player in the process and things got even more heated. The reason for the arguement and the fight is still not known.

India have now won consecutive matches against Camodia and Afghanistan placing them second in their AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group and will face Hong Kong next on June 14, who are currently leading the group sitting on the first position.