India national football team records and statistics

The following is a list of the India national football team's competitive records and statistics.

The India national football team represents India in international football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation. Under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and governed in Asia by the AFC, the team is also part of the South Asian Football Federation. The team, which was once considered one of the best teams in Asia, had its golden era during the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim, India won gold during the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, won silver medal in 1964 AFC Asia Cup as runners up, while finishing fourth during the 1956 Summer Olympics. India has never participated in the FIFA World Cup, although the team did qualify by default for the 1950 World Cup after all the other nations in their qualification group withdrew. However India withdrew prior to the beginning of the tournament.

India has never participated in a FIFA World Cup. ^[1] After gaining independence in 1947, India managed to qualify for the World Cup held in 1950. This was due to Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines withdrawing from qualification. ^[1] However, prior to the start of the tournament, India themselves withdrew due to the expenses required in getting the team to Brazil. ^[1] Other reasons cited for why India withdrew include FIFA not allowing Indian players to play in the tournament barefoot and the All India Football Federation not considering the World Cup an important tournament compared to the Olympics. ^[1]

After withdrawing from the 1950 FIFA World Cup, India didn't enter the qualifying rounds of the tournament between 1954 and 1982. ^[2] Since the 1986 qualifiers, with the exception of the 1990 edition of the tournament, the team started to participate in qualifiers but have yet to qualify for the tournament again. ^[2]

Individual records

Player records

See also: List of India international footballers

As of 10 June 2025 ^[3]

Players in bold are still active with India.

Sunil Chhetri is India's top goalscorer and their most capped player.

Players with most international caps for India

Rank.	Player	Caps	Goals	Career	Ref.
1.	Sunil Chhetri	155	95	2005−present	[4] [5]
2.	Bhaichung Bhutia	84	27	1995−2011	[6] [7] [8]
3.	Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	76	0	2011−present	[9]
4.	I. M. Vijayan	73	32	1992−2004	[10]
5.	Shabbir Ali	72	6	1974−1984	[11]
	Climax Lawrence	72	3	2003−2011	[12]
7.	Gouramangi Singh	71	6	2006−2013	[13]
8.	Mahesh Gawli	68	1	1999−2011	[14]
	Sandesh Jhingan	68	5	2015−present	[15]
	Subrata Pal	68	0	2007−2017	[16]

Players with most international goals scored for India

Rank.	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1.	Sunil Chhetri (list)	95	155	0.61	2005–present
2.	I. M. Vijayan	32	73	0.44	1992−2004
3.	Bhaichung Bhutia	27	84	0.32	1995−2011
4.	Jeje Lalpekhlua	23	56	0.41	2011−2019
5.	Magan Singh Rajvi	16	36	0.44	1969−1974
	P. K. Banerjee	16	52	0.31	1955−1966
7.	Pappachen Pradeep	14	52	0.27	2004-2011
8.	Chuni Goswami	12	37	0.32	1958−1964
9.	Neville D'Souza	11	15	0.73	1953−1956
	Mohammed Habib	11	30	0.37	1969−1974
	Tulsidas Balaram	11	32	0.34	1956−1962
	Jo Paul Ancheri	11	41	0.27	1994−2004

Manager records

See also: List of India national football team managers

• (since 2002)

Manager	Period	Record
		Matches	Won	Draw	Lost	Win %
Stephen Constantine	2002–05	18	4	5	9	22.22%
Sukhwinder Singh	2005	5	1	1	3	20.00%
Syed Nayeemuddin	2005–06	7	4	1	2	57.14%
Bob Houghton	2006–11	44	14	6	24	31.81%
Armando Colaco	2011 (Interim)	5	0	2	3	0.00%
Savio Medeira	2011–12	13	5	2	6	38.46%
Wim Koevermans	2012–14	20	7	5	8	35.00%
Stephen Constantine	2015–19	42	23	6	13	54.76%
Igor Štimac	2019–2024	38	15	11	12	39.47%
Manolo Márquez	2024–2025	8	1	4	3	12.50%
Khalid Jamil	2025-	1	1	0	0	100.00%

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

Main article: India at the FIFA World Cup qualification

India has never played in finals of a FIFA World Cup. ^[1] The closest they came to qualify was back in 2002 when they were a point away from progressing in to the final round.

FIFA World Cup record											FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter										Did not enter
1934
1938
1950	Withdrew										Qualified
1954	Denied by FIFA										None
1958 to 1982	Did not enter										Did not enter
1986	Did not qualify										6	2	3	1	7	6
1990											Withdrew from qualification
1994											8	1	1	6	8	22
1998											3	1	1	1	3	7
2002											6	3	2	1	11	5
2006											6	1	1	4	2	18
2010											2	0	1	1	3	6
2014											2	0	1	1	2	5
2018											10	2	1	7	7	18
2022											8	1	4	3	6	7
2026											6	1	2	3	3	7
2030	To be determined
2034	To be determined
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			51	11	15	25	49	94

AFC Asian Cup

Main article: India at the AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup record											AFC Asian Cup qualification record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956	Did not enter										Did not enter
1960	Did not qualify										6	2	0	4	7	9
1964	Runners-up	2nd	3	2	0	1	5	3	Squad		Bye
1968	Did not qualify										3	0	1	2	2	6
1972 to 1980	Did not enter										Did not enter
1984	Group stage	10th	4	0	1	3	0	7	Squad		4	3	0	1	8	2
1988 to 2007	Did not qualify										21	2	4	15	17	57
2011	Group stage	16th	3	0	0	3	3	13	Squad		2008 AFC Challenge Cup winners
2015	Did not qualify										Failed to win 2012 & Did not qualify for 2014 AFC Challenge Cup
2019	Group stage	17th	3	1	0	2	4	4	Squad		18	8	2	8	25	24
2023	Group stage	24th	3	0	0	3	0	6	Squad		11	4	4	3	14	8
2027	To be determined										8	1	3	4	3	8
Totals	Runners-up	5/17	16	3	1	12	12	33			71	20	14	37	76	114

Summer Olympics

See also: India at the Olympics

Summer Olympics record											Summer Olympics qualification record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1908– 1936	Did not enter										Did not enter
1948	Round 1	11th	1	0	0	1	1	2	Squad		Qualified automatically
1952	Preliminaries	25th	1	0	0	1	1	10	Squad
1956	Semi-finals	4th	3	1	0	2	5	9	Squad		Bye
1960	Round 1	13th	3	0	1	2	3	6	Squad		4	4	0	0	13	4
1964– 1988	Did not qualify										23	9	1	13	32	38
Total	Semi-finals	4 / 17	8	1	1	6	10	27			23	9	1	13	45	42

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1951	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	7	0	Squad
1954	Round 1	8th	2	1	0	1	3	6	Squad
1958	Semi-finals	4th	5	2	0	3	12	13	Squad
1962	Champions	1st	5	4	0	1	11	6	Squad
1966	Round 1	8th	3	1	0	2	4	7	Squad
1970	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	8	5	Squad
1974	Round 1	13th	3	0	0	3	2	14	Squad
1978	Round 2	8th	5	1	0	4	5	13	Squad
1982	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	1	1	5	3	Squad
1986	Round 1	16th	3	0	0	3	1	8	Squad
1990	Did not enter
1994	Did not enter
1998	Round 2	16th	5	1	0	4	3	8	Squad
Total	2 Titles	11 / 13	44	18	2	24	61	83

AFC Challenge Cup

AFC Challenge Cup record											AFC Challenge Cup Qualification record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2006	Quarter-final [a]	8	4	1	2	1	3	4	Squad		Qualified automatically
2008	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	9	3	Squad		Qualified as hosts
2010	Group Stage [b]	8	3	0	0	3	1	6	Squad		Qualified automatically
2012	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	0	8	Squad		3	2	1	0	7	2
2014	did not qualify										3	2	0	1	6	2
Totals [c]	1 Title	2/5	8	4	1	3	9	11			6	4	1	1	13	4

SAFF Championship

SAFF Championship record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1993	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	4	1
1995	Runners-up	2nd	3	0	2	1	2	3
1997	Champions	1st	4	3	1	0	12	3
1999	Champions	1st	4	3	1	0	6	1
2003	Third place	3rd	5	2	1	2	8	5
2005	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	9	2
2008	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	0	1	9	3
2011	Champions	1st	5	4	1	0	16	2
2013	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	1	2	4	5
2015	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0	11	4
2018	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	0	1	8	3
2021	Champions	1st	5	3	2	0	8	2
2023	Champions	1st	5	2	3	0	8	2
Total	8 Titles	13/13	57	36	14	7	105	36

South Asian Games

South Asian Games record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1984	did not enter
1985	Champions [d]	1st	3	2	1	0	6	1
1987	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	6	0
1989	Third place	3rd	3	2	1	0	5	3
1991	Group stage	6th	2	0	1	1	1	2
1993	Runners-up	2nd	3	1	2	0	6	4
1995	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	5	0
1999	Third place [e]	3rd	5	4	0	1	15	4
Totals [f]	3 Titles	7/8	20	12	6	2	38	14

Other tournaments

• Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament
  • Champions (4): 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955
• Merdeka Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 1959, 1964
  • Third place (4): 1965, 1966, 1970, 2023
• Pesta Sukan Cup
  • Champions (1): 1971 ^[17]
• Afghanistan Republic Day Cup
  • Third place (2): 1976, 1977 ^[18]
• King's Cup
  • Third place (2): 1977, 2019
• ANFA Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1983 ^[19]
• Afro-Asian Games
  • Runners-up (1): 2003 ^[20]
• Nehru Cup
  • Champions (3): 2007, 2009, 2012
• Intercontinental Cup
  • Champions (2): 2018, 2023
• Tri-Nation Series
  • Champions (2): 2017, 2023
• VFF Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2022

Overall competitive record

As of 1 September 2025 (Excluding friendlies & minor tournaments)

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%
FIFA World Cup qualifier	57	12	17	28	52	101	−49	021.05
AFC Asian Cup	16	3	1	12	12	33	−21	018.75
AFC Asian Cup qualifier [g]	71	20	14	37	76	114	−38	028.17
Summer Olympics	8	1	1	6	10	27	−17	012.50
Summer Olympics qualifier	23	9	1	13	45	42	+3	039.13
Asian Games [h]	44	18	2	24	61	83	−22	040.91
SAFF Championship	57	36	14	7	105	36	+69	063.16
AFC Challenge Cup [i]	8	4	1	3	9	11	−2	050.00
AFC Challenge Cup qualifier	6	4	1	1	13	4	+9	066.67
South Asian Games [j]	20	12	6	2	38	14	+24	060.00
Total [k]	310	119	68	123	421	464	−43	038.39

Head-to-head record

The results only include matches considered as FIFA A matches (including Olympic finals and Qualifier matches). Other matches played against Club teams, Underage sides or B teams are not included here. Updated as of 1 September 2025 (vs   Iran ). ^{[21] [22] [23] [l]}

  Positive Record  Neutral Record  Negative Record

Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	First meeting	Last meeting	Confederations
Afghanistan	14	7	5	2	21	12	+9	50	1951	2024	AFC
Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	1984		CONMEBOL
Australia	9	3	1	5	27	27	0	33.33	1938	2024	AFC
Azerbaijan	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0	2012		UEFA
Bahrain	7	0	1	6	4	16	-12	0	1982	2022	AFC
Bangladesh	29	13	13	3	40	20	+20	44.83	1978	2025	AFC
Belarus	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0	2022		UEFA
Bhutan	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9	100	2005	2011	AFC
Brunei	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	100	2001	2001	AFC
Bulgaria	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0	1956		UEFA
Cambodia	6	5	0	1	19	5	+14	83.33	1964	2022	AFC
Cameroon	4	0	3	1	5	6	-1	0	1993	2012	CAF
China	14	0	5	9	6	25	-19	0	1956	2018	AFC
Curaçao	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0	2019		CONCACAF
Fiji	2	0	0	2	1	3	-2	0	2005	2005	OFC
Finland	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	0	1993	1993	UEFA
France	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	0	1948	1960	UEFA
Ghana	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	1982		CAF
Guam	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	66.67	2013	2015	AFC
Guyana	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	2011		CONCACAF
Hong Kong	17	8	4	5	36	21	+15	47.06	1958	2025	AFC
Hungary	2	0	0	2	2	4	-2	0	1960	1991	UEFA
Iceland	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0	2001		UEFA
Indonesia	22	10	3	9	34	37	-3	45.45	1951	2004	AFC
Iran	12	2	1	9	7	28	-21	16.67	1951	2025	AFC
Iraq	7	0	3	4	4	13	-9	0	1974	2023	AFC
Israel	4	0	0	4	2	8	-6	0	1959	1964	UEFA
Jamaica	2	0	1	1	0	3	-3	0	2002	2002	CONCACAF
Japan	13	3	0	10	11	37	-26	23.08	1954	2006	AFC
Jordan	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0	2018	2022	AFC
Kenya	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100	2018	2018	CAF
Kuwait	7	2	3	2	8	19	-11	28.57	1978	2024	AFC
Kyrgyzstan	5	4	0	1	9	3	+6	80	2007	2023	AFC
Laos	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	100	2016	2016	AFC
Lebanon	9	1	4	4	8	12	-4	11.11	1993	2023	AFC
Macau	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100	2017	2017	AFC
Malaysia	26	7	8	11	31	54	-23	26.92	1959	2024	AFC
Maldives	18	13	2	3	39	14	+25	72.22	1987	2025	AFC
Mauritius	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	50	2017	2024	CAF
Mongolia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100	2023		AFC
Morocco	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	1985		CAF
Myanmar	22	10	3	9	36	44	-8	45.45	1952	2023	AFC
Namibia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100	2010		CAF
Nepal	24	18	5	1	42	9	+33	75	1985	2023	AFC
New Zealand	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	0	1981	2018	OFC
North Korea	8	0	1	7	6	23	-17	0	1974	2019	AFC
Oman	10	0	3	7	6	23	-17	0	1994	2021	AFC
Pakistan	26	16	7	3	41	18	+23	61.54	1952	2023	AFC
Palestine	2	0	0	2	4	7	-3	0	2013	2014	AFC
Peru	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0	1960	1986	CONMEBOL
Philippines	4	2	1	1	8	4	+4	50	1971	2013	AFC
Poland	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0	1984		UEFA
Puerto Rico	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100	2016		CONCACAF
Qatar	5	0	1	4	1	12	-11	0	1996	2024	AFC
Republic of China	8	5	2	1	17	4	+13	62.5	1966	2018	AFC
Russia [note 1]	2	0	0	2	1	16	-15	0	1955	1971	UEFA
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	2017		CONCACAF
Saudi Arabia	5	0	0	5	2	18	-16	0	1982	2006	AFC
Singapore	15	5	2	8	14	19	-5	33.33	1959	2022	AFC
South Korea [m]	20	4	2	14	13	48	-35	20	1958	2011	AFC
Sri Lanka	22	15	5	2	50	17	+33	68.18	1952	2021	AFC
Suriname	2	0	0	2	3	10	-7	0	1984	1984	CONCACAF
Syria	8	2	2	4	7	11	-4	25	2007	2024	AFC
Tajikistan	6	2	1	3	9	12	-3	33.33	2008	2025	AFC
Thailand	23	7	6	10	28	36	-8	30.43	1962	2025	AFC
Trinidad and Tobago	4	1	0	3	3	10	-7	25	1984	2011	CONCACAF
Tunisia	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	1960		CAF
Turkmenistan	5	1	1	3	7	9	-2	20	1998	2016	AFC
United Arab Emirates	13	2	1	10	7	33	-26	15.38	1981	2021	AFC
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0	1982		CONMEBOL
Uzbekistan	6	0	1	5	3	14	-11	0	1998	2024	AFC
Vanuatu	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100	2023		OFC
Vietnam [note 2]	17	9	4	4	25	19	+6	52.94	1959	2024	AFC
Yemen [note 3]	9	1	2	6	12	20	-8	11.11	1984	2010	AFC
Yugoslavia	2	0	0	2	2	14	-12	0	1952	1956	UEFA
Zambia	1	0	0	1	0	5	-5	0	2011		CAF
Total (76)	539	195	113	231	738	855	-117	36.18	1938 (debut)	2025 (last played)	FIFA

Sources:

Notes:

1. India actually played with U-20 team so the matches involving them are not considered as full-A internationals.
2. India actually played with U-23 team so the matches involving them are not considered as full-A internationals.
3. Only full-A internationals are considered.
4. The match against Bhutan is not considered as full-A international.
5. The match against Bhutan is not considered as full-A international.
6. Only full-A internationals are considered.
7. From 2014 onwards the first and second round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers are also considered part of Asian Cup qualifiers.
8. The matches against Japan U-20 is not considered as full-A international by some sources. But it is considered by some other sources.
9. India actually played with U-20 team in 2006 and U-23 team in 2010, so the matches involving them are not considered as full-A internationals & are not included here.
10. The two matches against Bhutan is not considered as full-A international as they were not a FIFA member until 2000.
11. Only full-A internationals are considered.
12. Although there is some conjecture regarding the status of several games (especially pre-1992 matches), the table includes all fixtures recognised by FIFA as "A" internationals and as such is used to recognise caps, goal scorers, captaincy records, etc. Several other sources may differ from the table given below. This following table is based on RSSSF and FIFA sources. ^{[24] [25]}
13. A match against South Korea which India won 1-0 in 1977 is considered as an international A match for India by some sources.

Other records

• Best unbeaten streak: 13 games (2 June 2016 – 14 November 2017)
• Best winning streak: 8 games (2 June 2016 – 19 August 2017)
• Biggest victory: Sri Lanka   0–7   India (7 December 1963)
• Biggest defeat: Soviet Union   11–1 India   (15 July 1952)

Honours

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Afro-Asian Games	0	1	0	1
AFC Asian Cup	0	1	0	1
Asian Games	2	0	1	3
AFC Challenge Cup	1	0	0	1
SAFF Championship	8	4	1	13
South Asian Games	3	1	2	6
Other tournaments	12	4	8	24
Total	26	11	12	49

See also

• India national football team
• India national football team results
• List of India national football team hat-tricks

Notes

1. Includes matches against   Soviet Union
2. Includes matches against   South Vietnam
3. Includes matches against   North Yemen

References

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