The latest FIFA rankings has India at the 136th position, marking it as the lowest since November 2016. No one seems to be bothered about the alarming drop in football standards, which leads one to believe that the fall could be even steeper, says Partab Ramchand, adding that it is a sad commentary for a sport that has seen better days and the sooner an effective change comes about, the better
One step forward, two steps backward sums up the state of Indian football. If any proof is required that the sport in India has slumped to a new low, it is provided by the latest FIFA rankings which has India at the 136th position, marking it as the lowest since November 2016. The team’s fall coincides with their elimination from the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. No one seems to be bothered about the alarming drop in standards, which leads one to believe that the fall could be even steeper.
Given the lowly status of Indian football and how it has steadily declined over the years, there will be a tendency to shrug off the latest stat. But the fact remains that it is a major sport and has an enormous fan following which at times leads to passionate discussions revolving around ‘whither Indian football’. After all, the scenario wasn’t always so dismal. In the golden days of Indian football – yes, there were such days – the team was good enough to make it to the semi-final of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, missing the bronze medal narrowly, winning the gold medal at the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962 and becoming a force to reckon with in Asia.
Much has been said and written on this sad state of affairs. The latest is the depressive show in the AFC Asian Cup qualification, where for the first time since 2019 India has crashed out with the lowest point being the loss to Singapore, a country which is over 20 rungs below the home nation. This means India is not good enough to be in the group of 24 from this continent which would be there for this Cup event in 2027.
These are times when yearning for pride in the sports arena has been on the rise. Nothing better symbolises this than the way Cape Verde, a country hardly known to the world at large, rose to be a participant for the 2026 World Cup to be hosted jointly by US, Mexico and Canada, making it the tiniest nation ever to get this rare opportunity. Even if unknown to the world of sports at large, Cape Verde, an island nation near the coast of West Africa, has a well-established football set-up, competitions, national league and the country has been participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, with the best showing being a quarter-final finish last year. That it beat a strong contender like Cameroon in its final qualifying match for getting a World Cup spot speaks for the ebullience of this small country. Besides, its players get noticed in Europe and that opens the door for them to improve their skills.
Miles away in India, it is darkness that the sport of football confronts. The entry of Khalid Jamil as coach had many believe that a new era would begin to bring back, even slightly, memories of that great past. In fact, things had begun on a positive note when India finished third in the CAFA Nations Cup held prior to the Asian qualifiers. That start did bring cheers. Beating teams like Oman and host Tajikistan and drawing against Afghanistan there raised a hope that Jamil was able to draw out the best from his wards. But everything ended with the misery in the Asian Cup qualifications. Jamil’s predecessors, be it Igor Stimac or Manolo Marquez, felt that managing the Indian national team is not easy, so it has proved to be for the Indian as well. The fact remains that for the first time since the Asian Cup was expanded to 24 teams in 2019, India finds itself not good enough to be in the midst of the elites in the continent.
It is a sad commentary for a sport that as I said has seen better days. From being the best in Asia and then to be considered by FIFA as a ‘sleeping giant’ that was refusing to wake up, Indian football today is staring into an abyss. But it must be said it is still too early to write off Jamil. The man has come to the fore after his fine show as coach with various clubs, but he must have realised it can be a different cup of tea when dealing with a national side that had only the available Indian talents. When clubs refuse to release players on time or the players themselves come late to the camp, a coach can only deal with what he has in his hands. This is what Jamil perhaps must have faced because he did appeal to the clubs to be more considerate.
Footballing nations the world over have thrived on their national league, which has been the lifeline for building national squads. But it is debatable if this is the situation in India. Ever since the I-league and the ISL came to Indian environs, things have not turned out as was expected. Visibility of players has been one big drawback. That is where the tournaments of the past, the big and small were much looked forward to moments for football lovers. One got to see the best players of the time and in due course the heroes surfaced. There cannot be a better way to develop self belief. Players like I.M. Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia and the lot of the recent past all became national treasures via the appeal that they gained in tournaments.
How to make the I-leagues effective and how to convert the cash-rich ISL into a vehicle of progress for Indian football is something that the All India Football Federation has to give serious thought to. The sooner an effective change comes about, the better for this sport because it is difficult to imagine India without a place among the Asian elites in football.
(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)
from Webdoux