Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

has historically been among the top 3 most popular sport in terms of players participation and TV viewership, together with long time number one

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and re-emerging kabaddi. India's current top domestic football league is

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federa ...

, formed with eight teams to promote Indian football in the country and world. The league began in 2014 and after third season, it was recognised by

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

as the national football league, running parallel with the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the wi ...

, thus (until 2022) leaving India as one of the few countries ever with two fully recognised top-tier football leagues. Also contested in

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

, a knock-out competition between states (provinces) and government institutions. The

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after th ...

was hosted by India in the month of October in 2017, the first time the country hosted a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

event. The tournament was touted as the most successful

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédératio ...

ever, with the attendance being a record 1,347,133 surpassing China's 1985 edition where it was 1,230,976. India also hosted the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. India also bid to host the

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

, but lost to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

History

Pre independence

The origin of football in India can be traced back to mid-nineteenth century when the game was introduced by British soldiers. Initially, games were played between army teams. However, clubs were soon set up around the country. Calcutta FC was the first club to be established in 1872, though reports suggest that they were initially a rugby club and switched their attentions to football as late as 1894. Other early clubs include Dalhousie Club, Traders Club and Naval Volunteers Club. Several other football clubs like Sovabazar,

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regim ...

and

Aryan Club Aryan Football Club (also known as both Aryans and Aryan; formerly Techno Aryan FC) is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Calcutta Football League. The club was founded in 1884 as ''Ar ...

were established in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

around the 1890s. Calcutta, then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football. Tournaments like Gladstone Cup, Trades Cup and Cooch Behar Cup was also started around this time. The Durand Cup and IFA Shield were both started in late nineteenth century. The first Indian team to achieve success was Sovabazar Club, which won the Trades Cup in 1892. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was set up in what is now West Bengal in 1889. The club became famous in 1911 when it became the first Indian team to lift the IFA Shield, a tournament previously won only by British teams based in India. It defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1 in the final of the tournament in a victory that is still regarded by many as the greatest win by an Indian team before Independence. The

Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers association football in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the oldest Football Association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was form ...

(IFA) was established in Calcutta in 1893, but did not have a single Indian on its board until the 1930s. The

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry ...

, which runs the game in India, was formed in 1937, but took more than a decade to get affiliated with FIFA. India also insisted on playing barefoot when other nations were putting their boots on and the game was changing fast.

The golden age

India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. But lack of financial assistance to purchase tickets including the prospects of a very long sea journey meant that the team never made it to Brazil. FIFA had imposed a rule banning barefoot play following the 1948 Olympics where India had played barefoot. The myth that Indians refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot is not entirely true, according to the then Indian captain Shailen Manna, it was just a story to cover up the disastrous decision of the AIFF. The team has never since come close to qualifying for the World Cup. India even picked up the gold medal in football in the first

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

in 1951, beating a "booted" Iran by a solitary goal. In 1956, after having put on its boots, India reached the semi-final in

Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

football, the first Asian country to do so. It stood fourth in the tournament. In 1962, India again picked up the football gold in the Asian Games. 1951–1962 is usually considered as "golden phase" of Indian football. The National team won numerous titles in this era under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim. Other than success in Asian Games football, India also won Merdeka Cup and Quadrangular Tournament while

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Ea ...

garnered rave reviews after its tour of Romania. It is during this period that India achieved their highest World Football Elo Ratings of 31 in 1951. Rahim's death in the early 1960s pegged Indian football back after a successful period. The former FIFA president

Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result o ...

once famously said that India is "the sleeping giant of world football".

The decline

India never qualified for the Olympics after 1960. India did qualify for its first Asian Cup in 1964 but failed to capture the title. India's last important performance in an international tournament came in 1970 Asian Games, when it won the bronze medal by defeating Japan 1–0, however the Indian youth team jointly won the Youth Asian Cup with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, the first and only title for India at youth level. For the club football, 24 September 1977 was a golden day as

managed to hold on for a memorable 2–2 draw at the legendary Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta, against a Pele led New York Cosmos. Mohun Bagan would have gone on and won the tie, had it not been for a controversial penalty awarded to the visitors that ensured the spoils were shared. The next day, the Ananda Bazar Patrika described Goutam Sarkar as "India's very own Beckenbaur". Indian national team qualified for the 1984 AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1964, but failed to qualify for knockout stage as they finished last in their group of five teams. After a golden phase in 50s and 60s, Indian football went through a barren phase in 70s, 80s and 90s, gradually losing its foothold as a top Asian team. However, things were just getting started for the women's team as they began playing in 70s. The first manager was

Sushil Bhattacharya Sushil Bhattacharya (1924 – 18 July 2015) was an Indian professional football player and coach, who is credited for becoming the first manager of the India women's national football team. He was also the first head coach in history of East Ben ...

, in 1975. Indian women's team went on to finish as runners-up in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

and 1983 editions of

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

. Later in the 90s, the women's team declined rapidly and a series of defeats with heavy margins followed. In 2009, the women's team reached its all-time low as they were delisted by

in world rankings. In August 2007, the Indian national team won the Nehru Cup for the first time in its history beating

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

1–0. In August the following year, India defeated

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

4–1 to lift the

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

and in turn qualified for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

in Qatar. In August 2009, India again won the Nehru Cup beating Syria on penalties (6–5).

2011-present

In January 2011 India played in the 2011 Asian Cup which was the first time India has played in the

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

for 24 years. India were knocked out in the group stage which contained

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

. Ever since the 2011 Asian Cup the

has been working very hard on Indian Football. For instance they allowed former coach Bob Houghton coach the Indian side in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. After going first in there

group Bob Houghton was sacked and replaced by Wim Koevermans. Meanwhile, the India national under-23 football team won the first round of the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

qualifiers against Myanmar but were knocked out by Qatar. India played their next official matches against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

qualifiers which India lost on aggregate 5–2. In 2014, India hosted the first-ever

Unity World Cup The Unity World Cup is an international football competition contested by Christian national men's teams. Its name, ''unity'', shows its will to ''unite'' the different Christians during a sports event. It is organized with the help of the John Pa ...

in Goa,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. India has participated in the

as hosts of 2017 edition of the tournament. This was the first time ever that a team representing India participated in the finals of a FIFA-organised world tournament. India was placed in Group A along with U.S.A,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

and

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

. On 6 October 2017, India played their first ever match in FIFA U-17 World Cup history in front of 47,000 people against the United States. But unfortunately, India lost the match by 3–0. India played their Second match against Colombia. In 82nd minute Jeakson Singh became the first Indian goal scorer in the finals of any FIFA organised tournaments. For the third match of group stage, India faced Ghana where they went down to lose 4–0, finishing bottom of the group A. In 2018 Indian youth football teams created history by defeating

Argentina U20 The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record si ...

2–1 on Cotif Cup, and Iraq U16, the defending champions of AFC U-16 Championship, by 1–0. The U-16 team qualified for the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship where they came close to qualify for

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hosted by Brazil b ...

, but went down to

by solitary goal in quarterfinals. Indian senior national team qualified for the 2019 edition Asian Cup after missing out in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. In that tournament, India beat

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

by 4–1; their biggest ever win at the Asia Cup, and their first in 55 years. Nevertheless, they lost both of their next two group matches against UAE and

by 0−2 and 0−1 respectively and finished at the bottom of the group, thus failed to move to knock out stage.

Administration

The game in India is administered by All India Football Federation (AIFF), which is affiliated with regional

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly ...

, as well as the worldwide body

. The Indian national team has entered into the regional

but has never competed in any World Cup. Indian women's national team has also played in various competitions; moreover, women's football has its own separate inter-state and state competitions. Youth football is administered by the governmental

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic instituti ...

National team

The India national football team is the national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team of

and is governed by the

. It is a member of the

. Since 1948, the AIFF has been affiliated with

, the international governing body for world football. In 1954, AIFF became one of the founder members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). At the peak of its success during the 1950s and 60s, the team was automatically advanced to play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup (all the other Asian teams withdrew), but ultimately they did not go to the tournament in Brazil due to the cost of travel, lack of practice time, team selection issues, the issue of the AIFF valuing Olympics over the World Cup, and, unusually, their instance on playing barefoot when FIFA required all players to wear football boots. They won gold medals at two Asian Games, and held the record for the best performance by an Asian football team at the Olympics. There are also a number of other national teams from the Under-23 team to the Under-17 team, the under-23's is considered to be a feeder team for the national team.

Performance

The following list includes the performance of all the national teams of India at major completions.

Men's senior team

The Indian senior national team had several success during the initial years, but as the decades passed the team was no longer one of the best in Asia. The best ever achievement of this team was to win two gold medals at the

Women's senior team

Relative to their male counterparts, the women's team started very late in the 70s. The team had seen success during the initial years in the form of being Asian Women's championship runners-up twice in the early 80s. The later decade when AIFF took incharge of the team, it suffered massive defeats and went down to all-time low during late 2000s. The team was then revived by AIFF and was provided with jaw-dropping number of quality friendlies during the late 2010s in an attempt to empower women's football. The AIFF had also successfully won the

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international women's football tournament in Asia competed by the national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). India was selected as ...

hosting bid.

Men's U-23 team

Men's U-20 team

Includes U-19 and U-18 team's performance.

Men's U-17 team

Includes U-16 and U-15 team's performance.

Women's U-20 team

Includes U-19 and U-18 team's performance.

Women's U-17 team

Includes U-16 and U-15 team's performance.

Club competitions

India currently has three national level leagues. Indian Super League is the top tier league, followed by I-League and

I-League 2 I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

(from 2022). The I-League 2 currently acts as a virtual final round for the top teams in the state leagues that are nominated by the State football associations.

Evolution in tier system

Leagues

Level I

National Football League (1996–2007)

Founded in 1996, the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

was the first football league of India to be organised on a national scale. The aim was to develop the sport in the country and give a platform for Indian footballers to showcase their talent. But due to several problems the league was defunct to make way for a new professional I-League.

I-League (2008–2019)

After the end of 2006-07 season, AIFF disbanded the NFL after missing the aim of professionalism. Supportive to this decision was also the presence of poor infrastructure and financially weak clubs. To replace NFL, AIFF introduced a fully professional I-League, with ten clubs from the last season of NFL participating in the maiden season. The league was declared as joint top tier in 2019–20 season when AFC approved AIFF's proposal to demote the AFC Champions League slot of the league to a virtual knockout competition for the AFC Cup slot. Three seasons later, the league was completely demoted to second tier status in Indian football with the league champions now promoted to the Indian Super League.

Indian Super League (2019–present)

The

, which was promised to be a professional league, soon began to suffer from lack of popularity due to poor marketing as the seasons passed by. The deal between Zee Sports and AIFF which was initially signed for a ten-year term in 2006 was terminated in 2010 after disagreement between both the parties. AIFF then signed a massive 700-crore deal with

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Relian ...

and the

International Management Group IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, events and talent management company headquartered in New York City. It has been owned by Endeavor since 2013. Trans World International (TWI) is an event and pro ...

on 9 December 2010. The Indian Super League was officially launched on 21 October 2013 by IMG– Reliance, Star Sports, and the

with an aim of growing the sport of football in India and increasing its exposure in the country, this time with the big names and high professionalism. A total of eight franchises were bought by big corporations, Bollywood stars and

ers. In 2017, The AFC were against allowing the ISL as the main league in India while I-League clubs

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Ea ...

and

wanted a complete merger of the ISL and I-League. A couple weeks later, the AIFF proposed that both the Indian Super League and I-League should run simultaneously on a short–term basis with the I-League winner qualifying for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

and the ISL champion to

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying ...

qualification stage. The proposal from the AIFF was officially approved by the AFC on 25 July 2017, with the ISL replacing the domestic cup competition, the Federation Cup which was a true knockout cup competition. Two seasons later, the AIFF and AFC met again to determine the roadmap for Indian football. After the meeting, it was announced that the Indian Super League was officially the top-tier league of India with

slot while I-League was now the domestic cup tournament with

slot. The AFC also mentioned some of the key recommendations. The first recommendation was to open a pathway for two I-League clubs to enter into the ISL by the end of the 2020–21 season, subject to the criteria being fulfilled. The second recommendation was, allowing the winner of I-League to stand a chance of getting promoted to the ISL with no participation fee, basis fulfilling sporting merit and the national club licensing criteria to be set out by the AIFF starting with the 2022–23 season. In its final recommendation, it was agreed that there would be no relegation in the ISL for now. The introduction of promotion and relegation into the top league would be implemented by the end of 2024–25 season and the existence of two parallel leagues will be abolished.

Level II

NFL Second Division (1997–2007)

The NFL's

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

was introduced by AIFF in 1997 to supplement the top division. After the 2006–07 season, all the three tiers of NFL were defunct and replaced with I-League and I-League 2nd Division respectively.

I-League 2nd division (2007–2022)

The National Football League's second division was succeeded by the I-League second division in 2008. The State FAs nominated top teams from their respective State leagues to AIFF who then selected the clubs based on criterias. The number of clubs in this league varied each season. Since 2017–18 season, the league saw introduction of I-League reserve sides which weren't eligible for promotion since I-League was then the top division. After I-League lost its top tier status, I-League 2nd division too was demoted to third tier, re-establishing India's third tier since NFL's Third Division in 2006.

I-League (2022–present)

Starting from the 2022–23 season, I-League lost its top-tier status. The champions of the

2022–23 I-League The 2022–23 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) is the 16th season of I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. It is played from 12th November 2022 to March 2023. Changes from last season Di ...

were promoted to the ISL with no participation fee. In its recommendation for 2024–25, it was agreed to fully implement promotion and relegation between the two leagues.

Level III

NFL Third Division (2006)

Ten years after the formation of NFL, a third division was briefly introduced for one season in 2006 The NFL Third Division was the first third division tier football league in India to be organized on a national scale. The league was played from 25 November till 18 December 2006 as a promotional tournament for Indian National Football League Second Division. Five teams were promoted to the second division. Starting from the 2022–23 season, I-League 2 filled the void in the third tier left by NFL Third Division in 2006.

I-League 2 (2022–present)

After demoting I-League to the second tier status in Indian football, its second division i.e., I-League 2nd Division was demoted to third tier. AIFF renamed the 2nd Division to I-league 2 to avoid disambiguation.

Level IV

Indian State Leagues

There are currently total of 37 state associations (including union territories) affiliated with the AIFF. These state associations have state leagues affiliated to them. The top teams of state leagues are eligible to apply for the

. Some state leagues have multiple divisions and a promotion/relegation system between these divisions. Calcutta Football League in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

is the oldest state league and has the highest number of divisions (seven) with promotion/relegation system in place.

Cup competitions

Federation Cup

Federation Cup (abbreviated as Fed cup) is an annual knockout style club football tournament in India. It has started in 1977. From its inception till

has been started in 1997 (then called NFL), it was the most prestigious national level club football tournament in India. Previously, the winning club of Federation fused to get a chance to compete in the continental level in

along with I-League champion team. Presently, the cup has been discontinued since the 2017–18 season and a new Super Cup was inaugurated from the same season and this tournament is the country's top tier cup competition.

Durand Cup

The Durand Football Tournament was started by then, India's Foreign Secretary, Mortimer Durand at Simla, India, in 1888, initial matches were played in Dagshai. It was basically initiated, as a recreation for British troops stationed in India. The Durand Cup was twice suspended, during the two world wars. In 1940 the venue was shifted to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

Super Cup

The Super Cup is a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

tournament. The top six teams from both the top-tier leagues for professional football in India, the

and

, qualify directly for the main round of the competition. The bottom four clubs from each league participate in qualification round to complete.

IFA Shield

The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the

(IFA),

. It is the fourth oldest club cup competition in the world (started in 1893) after the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

, the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Durand Cup. Along with local clubs of Bengal, clubs all around the nation and even overseas are duly invited to participate in this tournament.

Senior National Football Championship /
Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournament which is contested by states and government institutions. The trophy is named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh. The first winners were Bengal, who also lead the all-time winners list with 32 titles till date.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup

The Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup, also known as the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Football Tournament, is an Indian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

tournament held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and organized by the Shastri Football Club. Named in honor of former Indian prime minister

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

, the tournament was first held in 1978. Apart from some top clubs from Delhi, clubs from neighbouring states have also participated in the tournament. The 14th edition of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup was held in 2004 after a five-year hiatus. The most recent tournament was held in 2006 and won by

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...

Overview

The competitions currently active in Indian football.

Qualification for Asian competitions

Women's football

Women's football has not had the relative head start over the rest of the world that the men's game has had, and also has not had the chance to spread through the country like its male counterpart. The game was administered by the Women's Football Federation of India (WFFI) from 1975 until the early 1990s when they were absorbed into the AIFF. However, there are complaints that women's football is treated as a poor relation to the men's game leading to (unfulfilled) plans to de-merge the WFFI. The women's game, like the men's game, also has its early pioneers in the state of West Bengal. The large Kolkata teams,

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Ea ...

and

, started women's club sides in the 2000–01 season, and they participate with other teams in the

Calcutta Women's Football League The Calcutta Women's Football League, also known as the Kanyashree Cup, is a women's football league in the Indian state of West Bengal. Founded in 1993, it is the oldest women's football league in India and organised by Indian Football Associ ...

. However, it has been seen recently that players from

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

and

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

have made advances in the game. Players from these two states make up a large part of the India women's national football team. The women's national competition is played on a state vs. state basis in the India women's football championship. There are also similar national championships for junior teams like the ''Junior Girls National Championship'' (for under 19s) and the ''Under-17 Girls National Championship''. Some female players have become internationally recognised. Among them are Chitra Gangadharan who was selected to play for the All Asian Star team. Jaanki Kotecha was selected as captain to the All Asian Star Team in 2008–09, where she led her team to victory. In February 2000, Sujata Kar and Alpana Sil became the first Indian footballers to sign a contract outside India. They signed with the German team TSV Crailsheim, but had to return after a month due to problems with the clearance of their international transfer. Until 1983, women's football took part in international tournaments like the

. For example, the team won silver in 1980 at Calicut. In later years, it had become poor in status just like its male counterpart. During the

2003 AFC Women's Championship The 2003 AFC Women's Championship was a women's football tournament held in Thailand from 8 to 21 June 2003. It was the 14th holding of the AFC Women's Championship, a tournament for women's national teams from countries affiliated to the Asian F ...

, the Indian team were embarrassed by a 12–0 defeat to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The poor support of the national team by the AIFF became evident, when the team's trip to Germany was only made possible by Non Resident Indians in the country, and by the support of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge o ...

. Furthermore, championships are held in remote locations, and national media coverage is said to be restricted to state and local newspapers. The women's game reached a new low in June 2009 when FIFA delisted the side from its world rankings for being out of action for more than 18 months. This comes at a time when the game was gaining in popularity amongst the younger generation as evident by the local leagues conducted around the country. The recently concluded Mumbai Women's Football League 2009–10 organised by the MDFA (Mumbai District Football Association) was a major success and featured many talented players who had played for the national team. Furthermore, the popularity of the event gave hope that the women's game could rise in India.

Indian Women's League

On 21 April 2016, over a year after the AIFF started plans for a women's football league, the AIFF President, Praful Patel, said that a women's football league would kick off in October 2016 with six teams to be decided, with the goal to expand to eight teams by 2017. Just over two months later, on 5 July 2016, the AIFF organized a workshop to discuss the India women's national team and discuss the proposed women's football league. Five Indian Super League sides (Delhi Dynamos, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters, FC Pune City, Atletico de Kolkata) and three I-League teams (Bengaluru FC, Aizawl FC, Mumbai FC) attended the workshop. It was announced that the league would feature the eight teams in the league and two other spots would be determined through a pre-qualification round. On 14 October, the AIFF announced that the preliminary rounds for the Women's League would begin on 17 October 2016 in which ten teams are split into two groups of five teams each, with the winner from each group qualifying for the national finals.

Stadiums

There are many football stadiums in India, however only a few of them are currently of world standards. These are namely the largest stadium in India, the Salt Lake Stadium in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

with a seating capacity of 85,000, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in

with a capacity of over 60,000 and the

Ambedkar Stadium Dr. Ambedkar Stadium is a football stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named in honour of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, famous social reformer and architect of the Indian Constitution. It was earlier known as the Corporation Stadium. It also he ...

with a capacity of 20,000 (but is known to have had crowds of 35,000 in the

2009 Nehru Cup The 2009 Nehru Cup International Football Tournament also known as the ONGC Nehru Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by ONGC, was the 14th edition of the Nehru Cup a friendly tournament organized by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). ...

Barabati Stadium The Barabati Stadium is an Indian sports stadium used mostly for cricket and association football, and also sometimes for concerts and field hockey, located in Cuttack, Odisha. It is a regular venue for international cricket and is the home gro ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

, with seating capacity of over 45,000 and Kalinga Stadium in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar i ...

, with seating capacity approximately 55,000 are two major arenas for football events in

. In Sikkim, the Paljor Stadium in

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of . The city's populat ...

which seats over 25,000 is famous as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world as it is situated in the backdrop of Himalayas. In

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

the main stadium is the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium with a capacity of 25,000 standing. Both the Paljor and the JLN in Shillong have been renovated and now have artificial playing surfaces. Some other stadiums important stadiums are the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, the

Barasat Stadium The Barasat District Sports Stadium, also known as Vidyasagar Krirangan, is an association football stadium located in Barasat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It is used mostly for Calcutta Football League matches. It is also used for several ...

Barasat Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) ...

, the Fatorda in Goa, the

Kaloor International Stadium The Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, locally known as Kaloor Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kochi, Kerala, India. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 spectators. For Indian Super League matches it is restricted to 39,000. The ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

, Municipal Corporation Stadium in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second ...

, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, the EKA Arena in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

. Apart from the above-mentioned stadiums, there are hundreds of more stadiums in the country. However, with India likely to host the

there is definitely going to be massive renovation of said stadiums around the country. The following stadiums are affiliated by

. ''Note.'' † ''denotes stadiums that have hosted international football matches.''
''*'' ''denotes stadiums that are football specific.

International competitions hosted

Nehru Cup

The Nehru Cup was an international invitational

tournament organised by the

(

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange ...

), named after the First Prime Minister of India,

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

Intercontinental Cup

The Intercontinental Cup is a 4-team association football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The first ediiton was held as Tri-Nation Series as a 3-team association football tournament in 2017.

Indian clubs abroad

International competitions won by Indian clubs/teams

Media

The Indian Super League is officially broadcast on Star Sports network in India. International coverage is done by

OneFootball OneFootball is a platform-based football media company. The OneFootball app features live-scores, statistics and news from 200 leagues in 12 different languages covered by a newsroom located in Berlin. In 2019, OneFootball partnered up with El ...

Seasons

The following articles detail the major results and events in each season of Indian football since 2011.

References

External links

BBC Sport – "What's holding back Indian football?"

"Indian Football Association over the ages" (Video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Football In India Sport in India Football cup competitions in India Football in Delhi 1978 establishments in India Annual sporting events in India

History

Pre independence

The golden age

The decline

2011-present

Administration

National team

Performance

Men's senior team

Women's senior team

Men's U-23 team

Men's U-20 team

Men's U-17 team

Women's U-20 team

Women's U-17 team

Club competitions

Evolution in tier system

Leagues

Level I

National Football League (1996–2007)

I-League (2008–2019)

Indian Super League (2019–present)

Level II

NFL Second Division (1997–2007)

I-League 2nd division (2007–2022)

I-League (2022–present)

Level III

NFL Third Division (2006)

I-League 2 (2022–present)

Level IV

Indian State Leagues

Cup competitions

Federation Cup

Durand Cup

Super Cup

IFA Shield

Senior National Football Championship / Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup

Overview

Qualification for Asian competitions

Women's football

Indian Women's League

Stadiums

International competitions hosted

Nehru Cup

Intercontinental Cup

Indian clubs abroad

International competitions won by Indian clubs/teams

Media

Seasons

See also

References

External links

Senior National Football Championship /
Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...