Indian women's football team's record in major tournaments

There are a lot of hopes and expectations from the Blue Tigresses in the years to come.

The Indian women’s national football team has a more realistic chance of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup on merit than the men’s national football team. In the country, women’s football has a lot of exceptional talent that deserves better guidance, infrastructure, world-class coaching and more. 

In 'Vision 2047', the roadmap presented by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the aim is to help Indian women’s football become a powerhouse in Asia. If the governing bodies act professionally and provide the necessary facilities to the girls, then they can certainly achieve their dreams in the forthcoming years.

Despite the societal challenges, Indian women footballers show incredible commitment towards making a name for themselves through football. There is also a lack of financial gain which must change in future with investment from the public/private sector in partnership with governing bodies and federations.

In the last few decades, Indian women’s football team's performance on the international stage in major tournaments has been unsatisfactory. Having said that, they can turn the tide if basic amenities, more matches and better coaching are provided to them. 

Record in major tournaments

According to the roadmap, i.e. 'Vision 2047', the objective is to qualify for the U-17 Women’s FIFA World Cup on merit by 2026. It also strives to become one of the top eight nations in women’s football in Asia.

However, India is yet to qualify for a major FIFA event on merit. The women's national team played at the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup when the country hosted it. The objective was to secure World Cup qualification. However, Covid-19 cases inside the camp destroyed that dream.

India’s record in women’s football in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup

It is worth noting that, the Indian women's team finished 2nd, 3rd, and 2nd in the 1980, 1981, and 1983 editions, respectively. However, in the last 36 years, the country has qualified for only six of the possible 15 editions of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2022) and never made it out of the group stage.

Seeing the Indian women’s football team play at the FIFA Women’s World Cup is still a distant dream. The short-term objective must be to secure regular qualification at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Governing bodies must do everything in their power to conduct more frequent matches for the women’s national team to gain experience and exposure.

The fans deserve to see more performances like Manisha Kalyan’s iconic goal against Brazil's women’s national team in a four-nation tournament in 2021. There is huge potential in India’s women footballers. With proper nurturing, the country can surely make a mark in the sport in the near future!