India national football team results (1938–1959)

Main article: India national football team results

Results of India national football team from 1938 to 1959. ^[1]

Summary Matches 1–47
Games	Won	Draw	Lost	GF	GA	Win %
47	24	6	17	103	97	51.06%
Biggest win
Australia   1–7   India 12 December 1956
Biggest defeat
Soviet Union 11–1 India   16 September 1955
Honours
1951 Asian Games, India
1960–69 →

Key

	Indicates India national football team won the match
	Indicates the match ended in draw
	Indicates India national football team lost the match

1938

3 September 1938 ^{[2] [3]}

Friendly

Australia	5–3	India
Quill Jack Hughes Jim Wilkinson	Report Report	Rahim Bhattacharya Lumsden

Sydney Showground , Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 16,144

---

10 September 1938 ^{[4] [5]}

Friendly

Australia	4–4	India
Jack Hughes Kitching Cecil Brittain	Report Report	Rahim 47' Bhattacharya 49' Noor Mohammed Lumsden

Brisbane Exhibition Ground , Brisbane, Australia

Attendance: 16,000

Referee: J. Edwards (Australia)

---

17 September 1938 ^[6]

Friendly

Australia	1–4	India
Jack Hughes	Report Report	Rahim Lumsden 46' (pen.) Bhattacharya

Newcastle Sports Ground , Newcastle, Australia

Attendance: 9,000

---

24 September 1938

Friendly

Australia	5–4	India
Jack Hughes Jim Wilkinson Ray Bryant	Report Report	K Prosad Lumsden pen.'

Sydney Showground , Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 12,000

---

1 October 1938

Friendly

Australia	3–1	India
Jack Hughes Coolahan McIver	Report Report	Lumsden

Melbourne Showground , Melbourne, Australia

Referee: F.R. Thorpe (Australia)

1948

31 July 1948 ^{[a] [8]}

18:30

1948 Olympics

France	2–1	India
Courbin 30' Persillon 89'	Report Report	Raman 70'

Cricklefield Stadium ^[9] , London, UK

Attendance: 17,000

Referee: Gunnar Dahlner (Sweden)

1951

4 March 1951 ^{[10] [11]}

16:15

1951 Asian Games

India	3–0	Indonesia
Mewalal 27' Siregar 42' (o.g.) Venkatesh 50'	Report Report

National Stadium , New Delhi, India

---

7 March 1951 ^[12]

16:15

1951 Asian Games

India	3–0	Afghanistan
Venkatesh 10' Mewalal 16' Nandy 55'	Report Report

National Stadium , New Delhi, India

Attendance: 15,000

---

10 March 1951 ^{[13] [14]}

17:00

1951 Asian Games

India	1–0	Iran
Mewalal 34'	Report Report

National Stadium , New Delhi, India

Attendance: 25,000

1952

9 March 1952

1952 Colombo Cup

Ceylon	0–3	India
	Report Report	Venkatesh 13'20' Mewalal 15'

Colombo Oval , Colombo, Ceylon

---

16 March 1952

1952 Colombo Cup

India	4–0	Burma
Mewalal 20'25'35' Venkatesh 53'	Report Report

Colombo Oval , Colombo, Ceylon

---

23 March 1952

1952 Colombo Cup

India	0–0	Pakistan
	Report Report

Colombo Oval , Colombo, Ceylon

---

15 July 1952

19:00

1952 Olympics

Yugoslavia	10–1	India
Vukas 2', 62' Mitić 14', 43' Zebec 17', 23', 60', 87' Ognjanov 52', 67'	FIFA Report	Khan 89'

Töölön Pallokenttä , Helsinki, Finland

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: John Best (United States)

1953

23 October 1953

1953 Colombo Cup

India	1–0	Pakistan
D'Souza 59'	Report

Aung San Stadium , Rangoon, Burma

Referee: U. Kim Teikh (Myanmar)

---

27 October 1953

1953 Colombo Cup

India	2–0	Ceylon
Venkatesh Khan 35'	Report

Aung San Stadium , Rangoon, Burma

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Maung May Lay (Myanmar)

---

31 October 1953

1953 Colombo Cup

Burma	2–4	India
Samuel Ba Kyu 60'	Report	Thangaraj 4' Venkatesh Khan

Aung San Stadium , Rangoon, Burma

Referee: Mahomed Shah (Pakistan)

1954

3 May 1954

1954 Asian Games

India	3–2	Japan
Moinuddin 6', 28' Joe D'Sa 42'	Report	Takabayashi 47' Kawamoto 78'

Rizal Memorial Stadium , Manila, Philippines

---

5 May 1954

1954 Asian Games

Indonesia	4–0	India
D. Dhalhar 28' (pen.), 80' Ramang 51', 69'	Report

Rizal Memorial Stadium , Manila, Philippines

---

18 December 1954

1954 Colombo Cup

India	1–1	Ceylon
Noor Mohammed	Report	Andrew Fernando

Calcutta FC Ground , Calcutta, India

---

23 December 1954

1954 Colombo Cup

India	2–1	Burma
Thapa Patrick	Report	Gordon Samuel

Calcutta FC Ground , Calcutta, India

---

26 December 1954

1954 Colombo Cup

India	3–1	Pakistan
Thapa 71', 73', 75'	Report AIFF	Fakhri 55'

Calcutta FC Ground , Calcutta, India

Attendance: 100,000

1955

16 September 1955 ^{[b] [18] [19]}

19:00 (UTC+03:00)

Friendly

Soviet Union	11–1	India
Shabrov 18', 47' Streltsov 19', 46', 73' Kuznetsov 32', 85' Salnikov 60', 63', 74' Netto 80'	Report Report	Swaraj Ghosh 66'

Dinamo Stadium , Moskva, Soviet Union

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Nikolay Latyshev (Soviet Union)

---

18 December 1955 ^[20]

1955 Colombo Cup

India	4–3	Ceylon
Banerjee Mewalal Sattar	Report Report	Peter Ranasinghe Andrew Fernando

Dacca Stadium , Dacca, East Pakistan

---

20 December 1955 ^[c]

1955 Colombo Cup

India	5–2	Burma
Banerjee D'Souza Kempaiah	Report	Suk Bahadur Aung Shein

Dacca Stadium , Dacca, East Pakistan

---

24 December 1955

1955 Colombo Cup

Pakistan	1–2	India
Fakhri	Report Report	Banerjee D'Souza

Dacca Stadium , Dacca, East Pakistan

1956

17 June 1956 ^[22]

Friendly

India	0–1	China
	Report Report	Cong 8'

Delhi Gate Stadium , New Delhi, India

Attendance: 25,000

---

1 December 1956 ^[23]

09:00

1956 Olympics

Australia	2–4	India
Morrow 17', 41'	Report AIFF	D'Souza 9', 33', 50' K. Kittu 80'

Melbourne Cricket Ground , Melbourne, Australia

Attendance: 7,413

Referee: C.H. Wensveen (Indonesia)

---

4 December 1956

11:00

1956 Olympics

Yugoslavia	4–1	India
Papec 54', 65' Veselinović 57' M. Salam 78' (o.g.)	Report	D'Souza 52'

Melbourne Cricket Ground , Melbourne, Australia

Attendance: 16,626

Referee: Nikolay Latyshev (Soviet Union)

---

7 December 1956

08:45

1956 Olympics

Bulgaria	3–0	India
Diev 37', 60' Milanov 42'	FIFA Report

Melbourne Cricket Ground , Melbourne, Australia

Attendance: 21,236

Referee: Nikolay Latyshev (Soviet Union)

---

12 December 1956

Friendly

Australia	1–7	India
Vogler	Report Report	PK Banerjee D'Souza K. Kittu S. Banerjee

Sydney Sports Ground , Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Herbert Imlay (Australia)

1958

26 May 1958 ^[24]

1958 Asian Games

India	3–2	Burma
Goswami Balaram Damodaran	Report

Korakuen Velodrome , Tokyo, Japan

---

28 May 1958

1958 Asian Games

Indonesia	2–1	India
Tjiang 11'53'	Report	Rahmatullah 35'

Tokyo, Japan

---

30 May 1958

1958 Asian Games

India	5–2 (a.e.t.)	Hong Kong
Rahmatullah Goswami Tulsidas Balaram Damodaran	Report

Tokyo, Japan

---

31 May 1958

1958 Asian Games

South Korea	3–1	India
Choi Chung-min 13' Lee Soo-nam 75' Moon Jung-sik 83'	KFA Report	Damodaran 67'

National Stadium , Tokyo, Japan

---

1 June 1958

1958 Asian Games

Indonesia	4–1	India
Saari 10' Omo Suratmo 59' Wowo Sunaryo 60' Phwa Sian Liong 88'	Report	Balaram 46' (pen.)

National Stadium , Tokyo, Japan

Attendance: 46,000

1959

27 August 1959 ^[d]

1960 Olympics Qualifier

Afghanistan	2−5	India
Ayubi Mosa	Report	PK Banerjee Chuni Goswami Mariappa Kempiah Rahmatullah Moloy Lahiri

Ghazi Stadium , Kabul, Afghanistan

---

31 August 1959

1959 Merdeka

Singapore	0–2	India
	Report	Rahmatullah 52' Balaram 61'

Stadium Merdeka , Kuala Lumpur, Malaya

Attendance: 20,000

---

3 September 1959

1959 Merdeka

India	2–0	Hong Kong
Zulfiquer 8' Kannan 79'	Report

Stadium Merdeka , Kuala Lumpur, Malaya

Attendance: 11,000

---

4 September 1959

1959 Merdeka

Malaya	1–1	India
Robert Choe 60' (pen.)	Report	Kannan 63'

Stadium Merdeka , Kuala Lumpur, Malaya

Attendance: 18,000

---

6 September 1959

1959 Merdeka

South Vietnam	2–2	India
Do Thoi Vinh 20', 53'	Report	Zulfiquer 8' Kannan 56'

Stadium Merdeka , Kuala Lumpur, Malaya

---

8 September 1959

Friendly

South Korea	1–1	India
Cho Yoon-ok 30'	KFA Report	P. K. Banerjee 6'

City Stadium , Penang, Malaya

Referee: O. Hussain

---

7 December 1959

1960 AFC ACQ

India	1–0	Pakistan
D. D'Souza	Report Report

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 30,000

---

8 December 1959 ^{[27] [28] [29]}

1960 AFC ACQ

India	1–3	Israel
Kittu 70'	Report Report	Levi 35', 43', 53'

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 30,000

---

11 December 1959 ^[30]

1960 AFC ACQ

India	3–1	Iran
Goswami 64' Yousuf Khan 66' (pen.) Balaram 80'	Report Report	Dehdari 62'

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Masudur Rahman (Pakistan)

---

13 December 1959

1960 AFC ACQ

India	0–1	Pakistan
	Report Report	Abdullah 13'

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 30,000

---

16 December 1959

1960 AFC ACQ

India	1–2	Israel
Rahmatullah 19'	Report Report	Stelmach 11' Levi 75'

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Natarajan (Malaysia)

---

18 December 1959 ^[31]

1960 AFC ACQ

India	1–2	Iran
Yousuf Khan 64'	Report Report	Dehdari

Maharaja College Stadium , Cochin, India

Attendance: 25,000

See also

• India national football team results (1960–1969)
• History of the India national football team
• India national football team records and statistics

Notes

1. This match against France Olympic team is considered as full A international for India by RSSSF. ^[7]
2. This match against Soviet Union in 1955 is considered as full A international by various sources. ^{[15] [16] [17]}
3. Some sources report that the match ended in a score of 2–1. ^[21]
4. Some sources doesn't count the games played at the Olympics finals and qualifiers as official. ^[25] In 1999 FIFA deleted Olympics and Olympics Qualifying matches from its records. However most FAs ignore FIFA ruling and continue to recognize their Olympics and Olympics qualifying matches as official. According to RSSSF all those matches are considered official for India. ^[26]

References

1. "Indian National Football Team Matches Database: 1948–1999". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
2. "Report". Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
3. "Matches 1938". fifa.com. FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
4. "Report". Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
5. "The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search".
6. "Report". Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
7. "India International Matches".
8. "Olympic Games 1948 » Round of 16 » France - India 2:1". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
9. "GeoHack - Cricklefield Stadium".
10. "Asian Games 1951" . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
11. "India Win Soccer v. Indonesia". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
12. "IRAN v. INDIA IN SOCCER FINAL". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
13. "India 1–0 Iran".
14. "INDIA BEAT IRAN 1-0". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
15. "India International Matches".
16. "Soviet Union - International Results 1952-1959 - Details".
17. "СБОРНАЯ СССР' 1955". Archived from the original on 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
18. "1955 USSR and India reciprocal tours" . Retrieved 31 December 2023.
19. "Soviet Union 11–1 India" . Retrieved 1 January 2024.
20. "Quadrilangular Cup" . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
21. "India » Fixtures & Results 1955". 9 June 2021.
22. "China international game" . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
23. "60 years ago today, India's Melbourne magic created history". December 2016.
24. "Indian team at the 1958 Asian Games Indianfootball.de". Archived from the original on 23 August 2018.
25. "India » Historical results". 9 June 2021.
26. "India International Matches".
27. "India vs Israel international football match report". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
28. "ישראל-הודו 1:3 (1:3 India–Israel)". LaMerhav (National Library of Israel archives) (in Hebrew). 9 December 1959. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
29. "ישראל ניצחה את הודו 1:3 משתק מצויין של הנבחרת‭-.‬ר,לוי הבקיע כל השערים (1Israel beat India 1:3, an excellent match for the team - R. Levy scored all the goals)". Davar (National Library of Israel archives) (in Hebrew). 9 December 1959. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
30. "India 3-1 Iran".
31. "India 1-2 Iran".