India  | | Nickname(s) | The Bhangra Boys, Team India | | Association | All India Football Federation | | Confederation | AFC (Asia) | | Head coach |  Bob Houghton | | Captain | Bhaichung Bhutia | | Top scorer | Bhaichung Bhutia (42) | | FIFA code | IND | | FIFA ranking | 135 | | Highest FIFA ranking | 94 (February 1996) | | Lowest FIFA ranking | 165 (March 2007) | | Elo ranking | 155 | | | | | First international |  France 2 - 1 India 
(London, England; July 31, 1948) | | Biggest win | India 7 - 1 Ceylon 
(Bangalore, India; December 16, 1963) | | Biggest defeat |  USSR 11 - 1 India
(Moscow, USSR; September 16, 1955) | | AFC Asian Cup | | Appearances | 2 (First in 1964) | | Best result | Runners-Up, 1964 | | South Asian Football Federation Cup | | Appearances | 7 (First in 1993) | | Best result | Winners - 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005 | The India national football team is the national football team of India and is controlled by the All India Football Federation. It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation, and a member of FIFA. [edit] Summary India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. However, they did not take up their place in the competition because FIFA demanded all players at the World Cup finals should wear football boots. A number of the Indian players refused to abide by this rule and the team was forced to withdraw. The team has never since come close to qualifying for the World Cup.[1] India finished 4th in the football tournament at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, won the 1951 & 1962 Asian Games Gold medal and reached the semi-finals in the next two Asian Games tournaments in what became known as the golden era of Indian football. [2] India hosted the 2001 Millennium Super Cup, but were knocked out in the group stage following defeats by Iceland and Uruguay. More recent successes have been limited to the South Asian Football Federation Cup, the LG Cup won in Vietnam in 2002 under English coach Stephen Constantine, Nehru Cup in 2007 and 2009 and the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup under coach Bob Houghton, which earned them a place in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup to be held in Qatar. India's traditional arch rivals are Pakistan national football team, due to the historic tension between the two nations, and even though India has consistently beaten Pakistan, they are often hard-fought matches. Another regional rival is Maldives national football team, who have had many well-balanced, thrilling matches with each other, and this rivalry is often seen as more competitive than the rivalry shared with Pakistan. [edit] Coaching history [edit] Performances [edit] World Cup record [edit] Asian Cup record [edit] SAFF tournament record [edit] AFC Challenge Cup record [edit] Nehru Cup record [edit] Current Squad The following players were called up for the AFC Asian cup 2011 prepration camp in Goa, 14 November 2009. | No. | Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | | Goalkeepers | | 1 | GK | Subrata Pal | December 24, 1986 (1986-12-24) (age 22) | 30 | | Pune FC | | 24 | GK | Subhasish Roy Chowdhury | September 27, 1986 (1986-09-27) (age 23) | 1 | | Mahindra United | | Defenders | | 5 | DF | Anwar Ali | September 24, 1984 (1984-09-24) (age 25) | 18 | | Dempo SC | | 12 | DF | Deepak Kumar Mondal | October 13, 1979 (1979-10-13) (age 30) | 42 | | Mohun Bagan | | 14 | DF | Mahesh Gawli | January 23, 1980 (1980-01-23) (age 29) | 56 | 1 | Dempo SC | | 17 | DF | Irungbam Surkumar Singh | March 21, 1983 (1983-03-21) (age 26) | 40 | 2 | Mohun Bagan Athletic Club | | 19 | DF | Gouramangi Singh | January 25, 1985 (1985-01-25) (age 24) | 21 | 2 | Churchill Brothers | | 20 | DF | Samir Subash Naik | August 8, 1979 (1979-08-08) (age 30) | 32 | | Dempo SC | | 3 | DF | Nanjangud Shivananju Manju | May 9, 1987 (1987-05-09) (age 22) | 25 | 3 | Mohun Bagan | | 41 | DF | Rakesh Masih | March 18, 1987 (1987-03-18) (age 22) | 1 | | Mohun Bagan | | Midfielders | | 7 | MF | Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep | April 28, 1983 (1983-04-28) (age 26) | 32 | 9 | Mahindra United | | 8 | MF | P. Renedy Singh | June 20, 1979 (1979-06-20) (age 30) | 55 | 11 | East Bengal | | 23 | MF | Steven Dias | December 25, 1983 (1983-12-25) (age 25) | 31 | 8 | Mahindra United | | 27 | MF | Mehrajuddin Wadoo | February 12, 1984 (1984-02-12) (age 25) | 25 | 1 | East Bengal | | 28 | MF | Anthony Pereira | April 9, 1982 (1982-04-09) (age 27) | 5 | | Dempo SC | | 16 | MF | Clifford Miranda | July 11, 1982 (1982-07-11) (age 27) | 15 | 2 | Dempo SC | | 30 | MF | Climax Lawrence | January 16, 1979 (1979-01-16) (age 30) | 51 | 2 | Dempo SC | | 22 | MF | Syed Rahim Nabi | December 12, 1985 (1985-12-12) (age 23) | 20 | 1 | East Bengal | | 25 | MF | James Lukram Singh | January 3, 1981 (1981-01-03) (age 28) | 8 | 0 | Mohun Bagan | | Strikers | | 11 | FW | Sunil Chetri | August 3, 1984 (1984-08-03) (age 25) | 34 | 16 | Dempo SC | | 15 | FW | Baichung Bhutia   | December 15, 1976 (1976-12-15) (age 32) | 100 | 42 | East Bengal | | 18 | FW | M. Mohammed Rafi | May 24, 1985 (1985-05-24) (age 24) | | | Mahindra United | | 21 | FW | Abhishek Yadav | June 10, 1983 (1983-06-10) (age 26) | 26 | 8 | Mumbai FC | |
The following U-23 players were called up for the 2009 SAFF Cup, 14 November 2009
| No. | Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | | Goalkeepers | | 1 | GK | Arindam Bhattacharya | | | | Churchill Brothers | | GK | Laximikant Kattimani | | | | Dempo SC | | GK | Gurpreet Singh Sadhu | | | | Chandigarh FA | | Defenders | | DF | Denzil Franco | June 30, 1986 (1986-06-30) (age 23) | | | Mahindra United | | DF | Ravinder Singh | September 4, 1988 (1988-09-04) (age 21) | | | Air-India | | DF | Raju Gaikwad | | | | TFA | | DF | Robert Lalthalma | April 9, 1986 (1986-04-09) (age 23) | | | Churchill Brothers | | DF | Rowilson Rodrigues | | | | Churchill Brothers | | DF | Noaba Singh | March 1, 1986 (1986-03-01) (age 23) | | | Churchill Brothers | | DF | Nallappan Mohanraj | February 23, 1988 (1988-02-23) (age 21) | | | Mohun Bagan | | DF | Nirmal Chettri | December 21, 1988 (1988-12-21) (age 20) | | | East Bengal | | DF | Moirangthem Govin Singh | January 3, 1988 (1988-01-03) (age 21) | | | East Bengal | | DF | Dharmaraj Ravanan | July 29, 1987 (1987-07-29) (age 22) | | | Mahindra United | | DF | Debrata Roy | November 4, 1986 (1986-11-04) (age 23) | | | Mahindra United | | Midfielders | | MF | Jagpreet Singh | September 6, 1988 (1988-09-06) (age 21) | | | JCT | | MF | Baldeep Singh Junior | January 12, 1987 (1987-01-12) (age 22) | | | JCT | | MF | Lalrindika Ralte | | | | | | MF | Subodh Kumar | | | | TFA | | MF | Baljit Singh Sahni | January 22, 1987 (1987-01-22) (age 22) | | | JCT | | MF | Joaquim Abranches | October 28, 1985 (1985-10-28) (age 24) | | | Dempo SC | | MF | Jewel Raja shaikh | January 19, 1989 (1989-01-19) (age 20) | | | Dempo SC | | MF | Manish Mathani | | | | Mohun Bagan Athletic Club | | MF | Jibon Singh | | | | TFA | | Strikers | | FW | Jeje Lalpekhlua | January 7, 1991 (1991-01-07) (age 18) | | | Pune FC | | FW | Jagtar Singh | | | | TFA | | FW | Sushil Kumar Singh | April 1, 1987 (1987-04-01) (age 22) | 10 | 2 | Mahindra United | | FW | C. S. Sabeeth | December 2, 1989 (1989-12-02) (age 19) | | | Viva Kerala | | FW | Singam Subash Singh | February 2, 1990 (1990-02-02) (age 19) | | | East Bengal | | FW | Balwant Singh | December 16, 1986 (1986-12-16) (age 22) | | | JCT | |
 2007 ONGC Nehru Cup India vs Syria [edit] References [edit] External links |
