India vs Mauritius Prediction: India crashed out of 2026 World Cup

The Indian team will play their first game of the Intercontinental Cup 2024 by hosting Mauritius at GMC Balayogi Stadium, Hyderabad, India. India crashed out of the qualifying round in the race for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will be looking forward to building up under the new regime. Who will be victorious after 90 minutes?

India begins the Intercontinental Cup on the back of eight winless games, the last one coming in November-a 1-0 away win against Kuwait. Their last outing was a 2-1 defeat against Qatar in World Cup qualification in June, showing the recent struggles of the team. The lack of goals has indeed been a major concern for the side of Manolo Márquez, with only two scored in their last eight games.

Despite such challenges, the Blue Tigers have an impressive record in the Intercontinental Cup, having won it in 2023, not losing a game in this competition in five outings. This recent form in the Intercontinental Cup could be the much-needed morale boost as India looks to get its scoring touch back and get things rolling once again under the helm of Márquez.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK) (C); Asish Rai, Rahul Bheke, Anwar Ali, Subasish Bose; Apuia Ralte, Jeakson Singh; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sahal Abdul Samad, Liston Colaco; Manvir Singh

Mauritius heads to India with fresh confidence from a six-game winless spell broken in their last match-a World Cup qualification match in which Lindsay Rose scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Eswatini. The Dodos, though, have been experiencing a tough run of form as they have lost five of their last six matches.

This match will indeed be an uphill task for Guillaume Moullec's team, considering how poorly they have been on the road - losing 13 matches out of their last 15 since 2019. Ranked below 180 in the FIFA rankings, Mauritius will have to improve their form by a huge margin away from home if they are to make a good impression in their first ever attempt at the Intercontinental Cup.

Kevin Jean Louis (GK) (C); Jordan Francois, Lindsay Rose, Wilson Moutou Emmanuel Vincent; Jeremy Villeneuve, Adel Langue; Yannick Aristide, Adrien Botlar, Gabriel Calliste; Aurelien Francois 

Historically, the Indian football team goes into this game against Mauritius on very strong wickets, since the team has never lost to their opponents. Even more so, it marks a special moment in Indian football-a first game in Hyderabad in 16 years-which makes it all the more exciting for the home crowd.

Therefore, Manolo Marquez will try to capitalize on home advantage and a good overall head-to-head record in his first game as head coach of India. The fact that India is also a better-placed team according to FIFA rankings than Mauritius makes them the favored team to win the match. He will thus be desperate to win his maiden match as a head coach, taking full advantage of the strengths of the team and the energy from the local fans to set the tone for his tenure.

With all these in their favor, India is well-settled to seal a victory, keeping the Mauritius team winless against them. We predict less than 2.5 goals in the match with goals from only one team-India's.