Will Indian national football team participate in Paris Olympics 2024?

The Paris Olympics is scheduled to start on July 26, 2024.

The Paris Olympics 2024 are just around the corner, and the world’s top nations are gearing up for the prestigious tournament. However, India’s national football team will not be participating in the Olympics, and there are several reasons for this.

First and foremost, the qualification process for the Olympics is highly competitive, and India has not been able to cut. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has its qualification process. So we at Khel Now will simplify the qualification process of the Asian teams and inform you why the Indian football team did not qualify for the Olympics.

Men’s Football at the Olympics is a U-23 event

First of all, it is important to know that the Olympic rules dictate only players under the age of 23 can participate, with three overage players allowed per team. This means, no team can have more than three players aged 23 or above in the squad.

Qualification scenarios for Asian countries

For the Paris Olympics 2024, there are a total of 16 countries taking part in the competition. Out of that, one spot is reserved for the host while the other 15 are up for grabs for every country. Each Confederation has a certain number of spots available to them. The Asian Football Confederation has a total of 3.5 spots reserved for the Olympics, and the qualification procedure is highly competitive but simple to understand.

The top three teams in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualify directly for the Olympics, while the fourth-place team plays a playoff against the fourth-place team from the African continent for a spot in the Olympics. 

Why did the Indian football team not qualify for the Olympics? 

India, like every other Asian Country, before the AFC U-23 Asian Cup played the AFC Asian U-23 Qualifiers to qualify for the showpiece event that was held in Qatar earlier this year. However, India failed to qualify from the group that included UAE, Maldives along with the host China. Maldives pulled out of the tournament as they couldn’t reach China before their opening encounter against India due to financial issues.

Meanwhile, India lost the other two encounters putting an end to India’s aspiration of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and the Olympics.

Which Asian teams qualified for the Olympics?

As stated above, AFC member nations have 3 confirmed spots for the Olympics and the fourth-best teams of Asian and African Confederations play a single-game playoff to determine the qualifications.  Japan, on the virtue of winning the Asian Cup in Qatar, qualified for the Olympics.

Uzbekistan also qualified for the Olympics for the very first time in their history. Iraq and Indonesia played in the third-place playoff where the Young Lions of Mesopotamia pipped Indonesia.

Indonesia then played for a final playoff spot against Guinea in France where the African nation leapfrogged the East Indies islands 1-0.

Israel qualifies despite not being a member of the AFC

Israel, despite being located in Asia geographically, are affiliated with UEFA, the governing body of the European Football Confederation.

The nation has qualified for the Summer Olympics after participating in the UEFA U-21 Championship which is a qualifying step for the Olympics for UEFA member nations in the year 2023. They ended up as runners-up and booked their spot for the games in France.

In short, there are 4 countries located geographically in Asia that have qualified for the Olympics.

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