User:ArsenalFan700/India national football team (First Uncompleted Draft)
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The India national football team represents India in international football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation. India is a member of the Asian Football Confederation. Since 1948, India has been affiliated with FIFA, the international governing body for football. In 1954, India became one of the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[5]
Nickname(s) | Blue Tigers[1] | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | All India Football Federation | ||
Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
Head coach | Wim Koevermans | ||
Captain | Sunil Chhetri[2] | ||
Most caps | Baichung Bhutia (108)[3] | ||
Top scorer | Pradip Banerjee (65) | ||
FIFA code | IND | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 143 | ||
Highest | 94[4] (February 1996) | ||
Lowest | 169[4] (September 2012) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (London, England; 31 July 1948) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (New Delhi, India; 17 August 2007) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Moscow, USSR; 16 September 1955) | |||
World Cup | |||
Appearances | 0 | ||
Best result | Qualified but withdrew | ||
Asian Cup | |||
Appearances | 3 (first in 1964) | ||
Best result | Runners-up, 1964 |
India have qualified for the FIFA World Cup only once in its history and the AFC Asian Cup three times, but have never won any of the tournaments. India has, however, created some memorable moments in its history like the 1956 Summer Olympics Quarter-Final victory over Australia in Melbourne by a score of 4–2 to send India into the semi-finals.[6] This match was also memorable for the hat-trick scored by Indian forward Neville D'Souza which was the first ever hat-trick at the Olympics scored by an Asian player.[6] India also created history when they won the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which qualified India for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the first time they qualified for the Asian Cup in 27 years[7], by defeating Tajikistan in the final 4–1 with Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick and Indian football legend Baichung Bhutia also scoring to propel India to the cup.[8]
After going to the Asian Cup in 2011 interest in Indian football has risen with the move towards importance over the domestic game and the youth teams.[9] India's most recent successes post-Asian Cup were winning the 2011 SAFF Championship and winning the 2012 Nehru Cup in August 2012 after beating Cameroon's B team in penalties.[10]