Dushanbe: Struggling to find consistency in a winless campaign so far, the Indian football team needs nothing less than a win in its crunch World Cup qualifying round match against Afghanistan to be played in freezing temperatures here on Thursday. India began the second round of the qualifiers with a narrow 1-2 defeat to higher-ranked Oman before a memorable goal-less draw against Asian champions Qatar in Doha in September.

The good show in the first two matches raised hopes of a possible third round berth but a 1-1 draw against eastern neighbours Bangladesh in Kolkata on October 15 came as a dampener. Had it not been for Adil Khan's last-gasp header (88th minute), Igor Stimac's side would have utterly disappointed the capacity crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium that day.