India W against Russia W is a friendly where the two sides' scoring habits point in opposite directions, and I'd watch the second half more than the opening spell. Russia's recent wins in our records were mostly decided late, while India's best scoring runs came against opponents who look nothing like a national team. With only one earlier meeting on file, this match tells us more about styles than about a head-to-head pattern.
Russia first, from our match records. Both friendlies against China W were level at the break: 0-0 and 0-0. They won 2-1 (an own goal in the 54th minute, then Zalmieva in the 86th) and 1-0 (Kozhnikova in the 73rd). The Tanzania game was the opposite shape, 2-0 up by half-time, with a goal in the 1st minute, and finished 4-1. The one clear bad day was a 0-4 at Ghana, 0-3 down at the break, with Ghana scoring in the 8th, 22nd and 38th minutes.
India's friendly numbers look healthy on paper (20 goals for, 10 against in 9 games this year, per our aggregates), but the detail is uneven. They won 5-0 at Perth RedStar W and 7-2 at Perth Azzurri W, both club sides, and beat Malawi W 3-2 after leading 2-1 at half-time. Against national teams the picture is thinner: a 0-2 at Kenya W in which Kenya scored in the 2nd minute, and a 0-1 home loss to a Romanian club side, Csikszereda, who scored in the 13th. Their 0-11 against Japan W was in the Asian Cup, a different level, so I'd not lean on it for this match.
So the question I'd keep in mind: if India concede early the way they did against Kenya and Csikszereda, Russia's late-goal habit barely matters. If it stays level into the second half, that's the territory where Russia scored in both China games.
One caveat on the head-to-head. Our records show a single meeting, a 2-0 Russia win in February 2025, and the score there comes from the schedule feed rather than a verified result, so I'd treat it as a footnote.
