India national under-23 football team

India U-23

Nickname(s)	The Blue Tigers
Association	AIFF
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	TBA
FIFA code	IND
First colours Second colours
First international
India   1–1   Oman (Hyderabad, India; 4 August 1991)
Biggest win
India   5–1   Pakistan (Chittagong, Bangladesh; 2 February 2010)
Biggest defeat
Japan 5–0   India (Guangzhou, China; 16 November 2010) India   0–5   United Arab Emirates (Incheon, South Korea; 15 September 2014)
Asian Games
Appearances	5 (first in 2002 )
Best result	Round of 16 (2010, 2022)
SAFF Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2009 )
Best result	Champions (2009)
South Asian Games
Appearances	4 (first in 2004 )
Best result	Runners–up (2004, 2016)
Medal record Men's football SAFF Championship 2009 Bangladesh Team South Asian Games 2016 Guwahati & Shillong Team 2004 Islamabad Team

The India national under-23 football team represents India in international under-23 football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). A member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the team is eligible to compete in the Summer Olympic Games, the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, and the Asian Games, subject to qualification.

Since only allowing under-23 sides to compete in the Olympic Games in 1992, India have never qualified for the summer games. The under-23 side have also never participated in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup while at best only making it to the round of 16 in the Asian Games.

History

Asian Games

2002 Busan Games

The under-23 side participated in their first ever tournament during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. They were put into a group with China, Turkmenistan, and Bangladesh. Their first match was against Bangladesh. India won 3–0 through a brace from future senior captain Baichung Bhutia and a strike from Renedy Singh. India played their second match two days later against Turkmenistan. They won 3–1. Bhutia again scored a brace while Abhishek Yadav scored the third goal as India ran out 3–1 winners. Unfortunately, in their final match against China, India could not find the net as they fell 2–0 and thus were knocked-out of the Asian Games. ^[1]

2006 Doha Games

During the 2006 Asian Games India were placed in a group with Iran, Hong Kong, and Maldives. In their first match against Hong Kong, India drew 1–1 with Pappachen Pradeep scoring the lone Indian goal. In their second match, India faced off against Maldives and won 2–1. Irungbam Surkumar Singh and Subhas Sumbhu Chakrobarty were the scorers for India that night. Finally, in their last match against Iran, India once again lost 2–0 and thus were once again knocked-out of the Asian Games. ^[2]

2010 Guangzhou Games

During the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, India were placed in a group with Qatar, Kuwait Athletes, and Singapore. India lost their first match against the Kuwait Athletes 2–0 and then lost their second match against Qatar 2–1 with the lone India goal coming from Dharmaraj Ravanan. India went on to win their final match of the group stage against Singapore 4–1. Four players scored each goal, Jewel Raja, Balwant Singh, Jibon Singh, and Manish Maithani. The victory managed to help India finish in third-place which then helped India become the best third-place team out of all the other third-placed teams and thus qualified them for the Round of 16.

In the Round of 16, India took on powerhouse Japan at the Huangpu Sports Center. India went on to lose the match 5–0 with Kensuke Nagai scoring a brace and Ryohei Yamazaki, Kazuya Yamamura, and Kota Mizunuma scoring a goal each. ^[3]

2014 Incheon Games

For the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, India were placed in Group G with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. In their first match against the United Arab Emirates, India went down 5–0. Seven days later, India were defeated by Jordan 2–0 to end their Asian Games participation. ^[4]

2022 Hangzhou Games

At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, India were placed in Group A with China, Myanmar and the Bangladesh. In the first match China defeated India 1–5. ^[5] India won their next Match against Bangladesh 1–0 and played out a 1–1 draw with Myanmar. ^{[6] [7]} But in the Round of 16 they lost against Saudi Arabia 0–2. ^[8]

Other tournaments

2009 SAFF Championship

Before the 2009 SAFF Championship in Bangladesh, it was announced that India would send the under-23 side to the tournament. ^[9] India were placed in Group A with Afghanistan, Maldives, and Nepal. In their first match against Afghanistan, India won 1–0 through Jeje Lalpekhlua. ^[10] In their next match against Nepal, a Sushil Kumar Singh goal was the difference as India won again 1–0. ^[11] Despite losing the last match of the group stage to Maldives 2–0 India were still through to the semi-finals.

India defeated Bangladesh in the semi-finals 1–0 through Sushil Kumar Singh. ^[12] Finally, in the final against Maldives, India won through penalties 3–1 after finishing extra-time with the score at 0–0 to win the championship. ^[13]

Results and fixtures

For past match results of the national team, see the team's results page . The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win  Draw  Lose  Fixture

2024

Malaysia   v   India

22 March 2024 (2024-03-22) Closed Door Friendly	Malaysia	2–1	India	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
22:00  UTC+8	Saravanan 33' Alif 48'		Chingangbam 77'	Stadium: Kuala Lumpur Stadium

Malaysia   v   India

25 March 2024 Closed Door Friendly	Malaysia	1–1	India	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
22:00  UTC+8	Abishek 47' (o.g.)		Thoiba 61'	Stadium: Kuala Lumpur Stadium

Coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the team are: ^[14]

Position	Name
Head coach	TBA
Assistant coach	TBA
Goalkeeping coach	TBA
Fitness coach	TBA
Physiotherapist	TBA

Players

Squad for March 2024 friendlies

The following players were called up for the friendly matches, to be held in March 2024. ^[15]

Caps and goals are updated as of 30 October 2023.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1 GK	Arsh Anwer Shaikh	(2002-07-09) 9 July 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Mohun Bagan SG
	1 GK	Prabhsukhan Singh Gill	(2001-01-02) 2 January 2001 (age 23)	1	0	East Bengal
	1 GK	Vishal Yadav	(2002-05-05) 5 May 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Jamshedpur
	2 DF	Bikash Yumnam	(2003-09-06) 6 September 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Chennaiyin
	2 DF	Chingambam Shivaldo Singh	(2004-07-13) 13 July 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Bengaluru
	2 DF	Hormipam Ruivah	(2001-01-25) 25 January 2001 (age 23)	1	0	Kerala Blasters
	2 DF	Narender Gahlot	(2001-04-24) 24 April 2001 (age 23)	4	0	Odisha
	2 DF	Robin Yadav	(2001-09-15) 15 September 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Bengaluru
	2 DF	Sandip Mandi	(2002-06-11) 11 June 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Inter Kashi
	3 MF	Abhishek Suryavanshi	(2001-03-12) 12 March 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Mohun Bagan SG
	3 MF	Brison Fernandes	(2001-04-17) 17 April 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Goa
	3 MF	Mark Zothanpuia	(2002-04-22) 22 April 2002 (age 22)	0	0	East Bengal
	3 MF	Mohammed Aimen	(2003-01-20) 20 January 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Kerala Blasters
	3 MF	Thoiba Singh	(2002-12-12) 12 December 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Odisha
	3 MF	Vibin Mohanan	(2003-02-06) 6 February 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Kerala Blasters
	4 FW	Abdul Rabeeh	(2001-01-23) 23 January 2001 (age 23)	1	0	Hyderabad
	4 FW	Gurkirat Singh	(2003-07-16) 16 July 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Mumbai City
	4 FW	Isak Vanlalruatfela	(2001-05-19) 19 May 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Odisha
	4 FW	Ninthoi Meetei	(2001-07-13) 13 July 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Chennaiyin
	4 FW	Mohammed Sanan	(2004-04-05) 5 April 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Jamshedpur
	4 FW	Parthib Gogoi	(2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21)	2	0	NorthEast United
	4 FW	Sivasakthi Narayanan	(2001-07-09) 9 July 2001 (age 23)	2	0	Bengaluru
	4 FW	PV Vishnu	(2001-12-24) 24 December 2001 (age 22)	0	0	East Bengal

Past squads

Asian Games

• 2002 Asian Games
• 2006 Asian Games
• 2010 Asian Games
• 2014 Asian Games
• 2022 Asian Games

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

Main article: India national football team at the Olympics

From 1908 to 1988, football at the Olympics was played by senior national teams. ^[16] and between these years India national football team competed at all Games from 1948 to 1960. ^[16] From 1992, FIFA allowed only U-23 national teams to play the tournament at the Olympics. ^[16] Though U-23 players were allowed, the qualifying matches of 1992 Olympics to 2012 Olympics were played by the Senior national team of India but failed to qualify to the Olympics finals from 1992 to 2012. AFC started AFC U-23 Championship from 2013 which is now acted as the qualifying tournament for the Olympics for the Asian countries, where top three teams are allowed entry to Olympic finals. ^[17] India is yet to qualify for the AFC U-23 Championship and thus also at Olympics since then.

Summer Olympics record										Summer Olympics qualification record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA
1908−1988	See India national football team									See India national football team
1992	did not qualify									4	0	1	3	3	7
1996										4	2	0	2	8	7
2000										2	0	1	1	0	2
2004										2	1	0	1	1	2
2008										8	0	3	5	3	13
2012										4	1	2	1	5	6
Since 2016, AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifier (top 3 finishers)
2016	did not qualify									did not qualify 2016 AFC U-23
2020										did not qualify 2020 AFC U-23
2024										did not qualify 2024 AFC U-23
Total	0 / 8	0 Titles	0	0	0	0	0	0		24	4	7	13	20	37

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Asian Cup was initially set to be held as AFC U-22 Championships in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2012, but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014. ^{[18] [19]} Till now, three championships held, in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. However, India failed to qualify to any of the championships. ^[20]

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record										AFC U-23 qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA
2014	did not qualify									5	2	1	2	11	10
2016										3	0	1	2	0	6
2018										3	1	0	2	3	4
2020										2	0	0	2	0	5
2022										3	1	1	1	2	2
2024										2	0	0	2	1	5
2026	to be determined
Totals	0/7	0 Titles	0	0	0	0	0	0		18	4	3	11	17	32

Asian Games

Main article: India national football team at the Asian Games

From 1951 to 1998 India competed in eleven Asian Games except the 1990 and the 1994 editions, and was competed by the senior national team. As the turn of the century, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) changed the rules of participation of players in the Asian Games. Since the Football at the 2002 Asian Games, the age of the players is limited to 23 years while three over–aged players are allowed among each squad, similar to the rules for participation at the Summer Olympics. ^{[21] [22] [23] [24]} Though the senior team won the 1951 and the 1962 gold medal, and a bronze at the 1970 Asian Games but the India U-23 team has yet to win a medal at the Asian Games football tournament. ^{[25] [26]}

Asian Games record
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Ref.
1951 – 1998	See India national football team
2002	Group stage	10th of 24	3	2	0	1	6	3	Squad	[27]
2006	Group stage	14th of 28	3	1	1	1	3	4	Squad	[28]
2010	Round of 16	14th of 28	4	1	0	3	5	10	Squad	[29]
2014	Group stage	26th of 32	2	0	0	2	0	7	Squad	[30]
2018	Indian Olympic Association did not allow team's participation [31]									[32]
2022	Round of 16	9th of 21	4	1	1	2	3	8	Squad	[33]
Total	5/6	0 Titles	16	5	2	9	17	32

SAFF Championship

SAFF Championship record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	Team	Ref.
1993 – 2008	See India national football team
2009	Champions	1st	5	3	1	1	3	2	Squad	[34]
2011 – present	See India national football team
Total	1/1	1 Title	5	3	1	1	3	2	–	–

South Asian Games

South Asian Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA
1984 – 1999	See India national football team
2004	Runners–up	2nd	5	3	1	1	7	2
2006	Semi–finals	4th	5	1	3	1	4	5
2010	Semif–inals	4th	5	1	2	2	5	3
2016	Runners–up	2nd	4	2	0	2	7	5
2019	did not participate
2025	to be determined
Total	4/5	0 Titles	19	7	6	6	23	15

Honours

• LG Cup
  • Winners (1): 2002 ^[35]
• SAFF Championship
  • Winners (1): 2009
• South Asian Games
  • Silver medal (2): 2004, 2016

See also

• Association football portal

• Football in India
• India national football team
• India women's national football team
• India national under-20 football team
• India national under-17 football team

References

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Further reading

• Banerjee, Ritabrata (12 March 2015). "4 instances when India could have played in FIFA World Cup". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.

External links

• All India Football Federation