India organised their attacks through both the wings while Kuwait mainly relied on sorties through the left flank during that passage. The Blue Tigers nearly went ahead in the sixth minute but Chhetri failed to connect with a cross from Akash Mishra by a whisker. Kuwait too had their own chance when Shadab Al Khaldi's ripper of a shot from just outside the box went inches over the bar in the 20th minute

India snatched the control of the match and they could have netted the first goal in the 35th minute but Anwar Ali's header off an Anirudh Thapa corner lacked the desired direction. Their persistent tries bore fruit in the injury time. Thapa took a rather low flag kick from the right side and Chhetri effected a classy, tumbling volley to beat Kuwait goalkeeper Abdul Rahman, whose desperate dive went in vain. Armed with a 1-0 lead, India went ahead in full steam in the second half but saw their head coach Igor Stimac being sent off with a red card, second time in this tournament.

Igor Stimac engaged in an animated argument with match officials and was eventually flashed a red card in the 81st minute. The Croatian was earlier given marching orders in the match against Pakistan for interrupting their player from taking a throw-in. But the harsh moments did not end there as India's Rahim Ali and Kuwait's Al Qallaf were sent off.

Sunil Chhetri worked his magic but India had to split points with Kuwait after an acrimonious 1-1 draw. It was Chhetri's fifth goal of this tournament from three matches and overall 24th goal in 26 SAFF championship matches.

Marred by several incidents of chaos and fights between the players of both teams, the angry confrontations between the players became more frequent. The situation escalated to the point where Rahim Ali of India and Al Qallaf of Kuwait were both shown red cards for their involvement in the altercations.