Indian National Football Team
The Indian National Football Team, the Blue Tigers, represents India in men’s international football. The squad is controlled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the governing body of football in India. AIFF is a member of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Today we’ll discuss the India National Football Team’s history, players, and statistics. We’ll be diving into all that and closely examining how to bet on Parimatch, including games with the participation of the India national team. You’ll find why we’re a top-rated sportsbook, as we offer the best football betting odds.
Table of Contents
Indian National Football Team History
Let’s first have a quick overview of the Indian national team’s history. How they started, and their highs and lows across the years.
The Early Period of the Indian Football Team
In 1924, The Indian team had its first international tour that had British and Indian footballers. It was led by Gostha Paul, a legendary Indian footballer.
Then during the late 1930s, Football teams consisting of entirely Indian players started to tour Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Indian National Football Team: Golden Period
In 1950, India qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. But, they withdrew due to the travel costs, lack of practice time, and valuing the Olympics more than the World Cup.
Despite these reasons given out by the AIFF (All India Football Federation), many historians and pundits believe India withdrew due to FIFA imposing a rule banning players from playing barefoot.
In the following years until 1964, India’s national team, coached by head coach Syed Abdul Rahim, became one of the best teams in Asia. Rahim led India to their first-ever triumph during the 1951 Asian Games.
India also participated in minor tournaments, such as the Colombo Cup, which they won 4 times from 1952 to 1955.
Troubled Years for India National Football Team
India could not go beyond the group stage in the Asian Games in 1966.
In the 1970 Asian Games, India came back and took third place during the tournament.
In 1974, India’s performance in the Asian Games once again declined. They finished the 1974 edition in last place in their group when India lost all three matches.
In 1984, India managed to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1964. India finished in last place in their five-team group in the first round. India’s only non-defeat during the tournament came against Iran, a 0–0 draw.
Indian Football Team: New Hope
In the 21 century, the Indian national team had highs and lows, but the main highlight was in 2015.
India’s campaign to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup began in February 2011 with the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers.
The Indian team replaced many of their older players from the Asian Cup with some young players from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) development side in the I-League. India managed to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup even with a young side.
Indian National Football Team Captain
| Captains | Captaincy Years |
| Gostha Pal | 1924 |
| Talimeren Ao | 1948 |
| Sailen Manna | 1951 |
| PK Banerjee | 1960 |
| Chuni Goswami | 1962-1964 |
| Jarnail Singh | 1965-1967 |
| Shabbir Ali | The 1970s |
| Mohammed Habib | 1965-1975 |
| Prasun Banerjee | 1974-1985 |
| Inder Singh | 1973 |
| Syed Nayeemuddin | 1970 |
| Gurdev Singh Gill | 1978 Asian Games |
| Brahmanand Sankhwalkar | 1983-1986 |
| VP Sathyan | 1991,1995 |
| Bhaichung Bhutia | 1998-99, 2005 |
| Subrata Paul | 2015 |
| Sunil Chhetri | 2012 – Present |
| Gunpreet Singh Sandhu | 2016 |
| Sandesh Jhingan | 2017 |
| Subhasish Bose | 2018 |
Indian Football Team Players
| No. | Position | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Clubs |
| 1 | GK | Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Vice-Captain) | 3 February 1992 (age 29) | 39 | 0 | Bengaluru |
| 13 | GK | Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem | 4 July 2000 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | Goa |
| 23 | GK | Amrinder Singh | 27 May 1993 (age 27) | 6 | 0 | Mumbai City |
| 25 | GK | Subhasish Roy Chowdhury | 27 September 1986 (age 34) | 4 | 0 | NorthEast United |
| 2 | DF | Ashutosh Mehta | 21 February 1991 (age 30) | 1 | 0 | NorthEast United |
| 3 | DF | Akash Mishra | 27 November 2001 (age19) | 2 | 0 | Hyderabad |
| 4 | DF | Chinglensana Singh | 27 November 1996 (age 24) | 2 | 0 | Hyderabad |
| 5 | DF | Sandesh Jhingan | 21 July 1993 (age 27) | 37 | 4 | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| 6 | DF | Adil Khan | 7 July 1988 (age 32) | 11 | 1 | Goa |
| 17 | DF | Mandar Rao Dessai | 18 March 1992 (age 29) | 6 | 0 | Mumbai City |
| 20 | DF | Pritam Kotal | 8 September 1993 (age 27) | 37 | 0 | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| 27 | DF | Mashoor Shereef | 5 January 1993 (age 28) | 1 | 0 | NorthEast United |
| 7 | MF | Anirudh Thapa | 15 January 1998 (age 23) | 25 | 2 | Chennaiyin |
| 8 | MF | Lallianzuala Chhangte | 8 June 1997 (age 23) | 13 | 4 | Chennaiyin |
| 10 | MF | Bipin Singh | 10 March 1995 (age 26) | 1 | 0 | Mumbai City |
|
11 | MF | Hitesh Sharma | 25 December 1997 (age 23) | 3 | 0 | Hyderabad |
| 12 | MF | Suresh Singh Wangjam | 7 August 2000 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Bengaluru |
| 14 | MF | Rowllin Borges | 5 June 1992 (age 28) | 34 | 2 | Mumbai City |
|
15 | MF | Jeakson Singh Thounaojam | 21 June 2001 (age 19) | 1 | 0 | Kerala Blasters |
| 16 | MF | Mohammad Yasir | 14 April 1998 (age 23) | 2 | 0 | Hyderabad |
| 18 | MF | Lalengmawia | 17 October 2000 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | NorthEast United |
| 19 | MF | Halicharan Narzary | 10 May 1994 (age 26) | 27 | 1 | Hyderabad |
| 21 | MF | Raynier Fernandes | 19 February 1996 (age 25) | 5 | 0 | Mumbai City |
| 22 | MF | Ashique Kuruniyan | 17 June 1997 (age 23) | 18 | 1 | Bengaluru |
| 9 | FW | Manvir Singh | 7 November 1995 (age 25) | 16 | 4 | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| 24 | FW | Liston Colaco | 12 November 1998 (age 22) | 1 | 0 | Hyderabad |
| 26 | FW | Ishan Pandita | 26 May 1998 (age 22) | 2 | 0 | Goa |
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Indian Football Team Jersey
The Indian team’s home jersey has a sky blue shade, and the away color is white.
Both jerseys had a unique design embellished on the sleeves representing tiger stripes to pay homage to the Indian football fans, who affectionately call the team “Blue Tigers”.
Indian National Football Team Coach
Igor Štimac, born on 6 September 1967, is a Croatian football manager and former player. As a manager, Štimac was in charge of the Croatia national team from 2012 to 2013. In club football, he has had brief spells in charge of Hajduk Split, Cibalia, NK Zagreb, Zadar, Sepahan, and Al-Shahania.
On 15 May 2019, Štimac was appointed as the head coach of the Indian national team on a two-year contract.
The tactician also took over the team in January 2015.
He took the Blue Tigers from 171st to 96th in the FIFA Rankings in July 2017. Yet, his biggest achievement was qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 and the group stage win over Thailand.
India National Football Team Live
Following the team’s live games is a pleasure for every fan. And recently, more and more football lovers have been trying to predict match outcomes to spice up the experience. No wonder online football betting is in great demand. Regarding football betting, especially live betting, fans will find plenty of activities to enjoy with Parimatch.
You’ll discover why we’re a leading online football betting site offering multiple perks to our users. For example, after registration, you can watch and enjoy live broadcasts of matches. How astonishing is that?!
You can make live bets as the game evolves. It allows you to take advantage of changing odds while you’re watching.
Indian National Football Team Last Matches
2018
| Tournament | Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Venue |
| Asian Cup qualifier | 27 March | Kyrgyzstan | 2-0 | India | Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan |
| Intercontinental Cup | 1 June | India | 5-0 | Chinese Taipei | Mumbai, India |
| Intercontinental Cup | 4 June | India | 3-0 | Kenya | Mumbai, India |
| Intercontinental Cup | 7 June | India | 1-2 | New Zealand | Mumbai, India |
| Intercontinental Cup | 10 June | India | 2-0 | Kenya | Mumbai, India |
| SAFF G.S. | 5 September | India | 2-0 | Sri Lanka | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| SAFF G.S. | 9 September | India | 2-0 | Maldives | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| SAFF S.F. | 12 September | India | 3-1 | Pakistan | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| SAFF F. | 15 September | Maldives | 2-1 | India | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Friendly | 13 October | China PR | 0-0 | India | Suzhou, China |
| Friendly | 17 November | Jordan | 2-1 | India | Amman, Jordan |
| Friendly | 27 December | Oman | 0-0 | India | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
2019
| Tournament | Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Venue |
| Asian Cup G.S. | 6 January | Thailand | 1-4 | India | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| Asian Cup G.S | 10 January | India | 0-2 | United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| Asian Cup G.S | 14 January | India | 0-1 | Bahrain | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| King’s Cup | 5 June | Curaçao | 3-1 | India | Buriram, Thailand |
| King’s Cup | 8 June | India | 1-0 | Thailand | Buriram, Thailand |
| Intercontinental Cup | 7 July | India | 2-4 | Tajikistan | Ahmedabad, India |
| Intercontinental Cup | 13 July | India | 2-5 | North Korea | Ahmedabad, India |
| Intercontinental Cup | 16 July | India | 1-1 | Syria | Ahmedabad, India |
2020
| Tournament | Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Venue |
| AFC WC Q | 5 September | India | 1-2 | Oman | Guwahati, India |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 10 September | Qatar | 0-0 | India | Doha, Qatar |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 15 October | India | 1-1 | Bangladesh | Kolkata, India |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 14 November | Afghanistan | 1-1 | India | Dushanbe, Tajikistan |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 19 November | Oman | 1-0 | India | Muscat, Oman |
| Friendly | 25 March | Oman | 1-1 | India | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Friendly | 29 March | United Arab Emirates | 6-0 | India | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
2021
| Tournament | Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Venue |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 3 June | India | 0-1 | Qatar | Doha, Qatar |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 7 June | Bangladesh | 0-2 | India | Doha, Qatar |
| 2022 AFC WC Q | 15 June | India | 1-1 | Afghanistan | Doha, Qatar |
| SAFF G.S. | 4 October | Bangladesh | 1-1 | India | Malé, Maldives |
| SAFF G.S. | 7 October | India | 0-0 | Sri Lanka | Malé, Maldives |
| SAFF G.S. | 10 October | Nepal | 0-1 | India | Malé, Maldives |
| SAFF G.S. | 13 October | India | 3-1 | Maldives | Malé, Maldives |
| SAFF Final | 16 October | India | 3-0 | Nepal | Malé, Maldives |
2022
| Tournament | Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Venue |
| AFC ACQ 3R | 8 June | India | 2-0 | Cambodia | Kolkata, India |
| AFC ACQ 3R | 11 June | Afghanistan | 1-2 | India | Kolkata, India |
| AFC ACQ 3R | 14 June | India | 4-0 | Hong Kong | Kolkata, India |
Indian National Football Team Ranking
Now let’s look at the team’s performance at the championships. The Indian national has had its fair share of successes across the years:
AFC Asian Cup
Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, India has qualified for four Asian Cups in 1964, 1984, 2011, and 2019.
The team played their first Asian Cup in 1964.
It was India’s best finish in the continental competition, which came 55 years ago when they finished runners-up.
Summer Olympics
India competed in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960.
Their sole 1948 Olympics match against France was also India’s first-ever international match since the country gained independence in 1947.
In 1952 India then got knocked out in the preliminary rounds.
In the 1956 Olympics, India reached the semi-finals and finished fourth.
In 1960, India ended the group in last place, drawing once.
India has since failed to qualify for another Olympics.
Asian Games
India competed in eleven Asian Games from 1951 to 1998, except in 1990 and 1994.
In 1951 India won the Asian Games gold medalists and was the first-ever Asian champion.
They also won the gold at the 1962 Asian games to win their second continental title.
The team India failed to defend its title in 1966 and claimed the bronze medal in 1970.
SAFF Championship
India has played in all twelve editions of the SAFF Championship.
They have been the most successful team in South Asia in the competition, winning an overall 7 titles.
The team played in the knockout stage of every tournament except in 1993, where the tournament was in a league format.
India has scored the most goals, conceded the least amount of goals, and registered the most wins, fewest draws & defeats than any other team in the competition’s history.
AFC Challenge Cup
India has participated in AFC Challenge Cup 4 times. The team won the 2008 AFC Cup.
South Asian Games
India has participated in every edition of the South Asian Games except in 1984.
They are one of the most successful teams in the competition’s history.
They were champions in 1985, 1987, and 1995. They also took home silver in 1993 and bronze medals in 1989 and 1995.
India National Football Team FIFA Ranking
India has moved four spots close to 100, per the new national teams ranking.
India has moved up to 104, a significant rise of four spots, in the recent FIFA rankings. The country was placed at 108 when the governing body previously released the rankings.
All teams except the host nations for the next FIFA World Cup must play qualifying matches.
The only time India came close to participating in a World Cup was in 1950. Still, due to various reasons, like inadequate foreign exchange reserves, the long journey by ship, and the problem of bare-footed players, forced India to pull out of this tournament. Team India has never participated in the FIFA World Cup in line with a few other national teams, but we are sure there is much more to come!
Summary
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FAQ
Who was the first captain of the Indian national football team after independence?
Talimeren Ao is known as the first Indian National Football Team captain after independence.
Is India selected for FIFA 2022?
India wasn’t selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Which is the No 1 football team?
Brazil has the first spot in FIFA’s world ranking among all national teams.
How do Indian football teams get selected?
The current management of the team selects the team, and they have several factors they look for, such as how well the players perform in their football clubs and the experience they have or potential talent.
What is the rank of the Indian national football team in the world?
As of January 2023, India ranks 106th in the FIFA world ranking.
