Top five rare highs of Indian football in 2025

Indian football seldom reached moments of celebration this year.

Indian football had an eventful year in 2025. The finale for the year sees the future of the Indian football ecosystem clouded in uncertainty, with the future of the supposed 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) still unclear.

The Indian Men’s Football team had a pretty terrible year, failing to qualify for the 2026 AFC Asian Cup and winning just three of their 11 matches. The Blue Tigers suffered the ultimate embarrassment by suffering a loss to Bangladesh in their final match of 2025, summing up a terrible year for the team.

However, at a point when the Indian Men’s Senior Team failed, there were bright sparks that ignited Indian Football in other areas.

The Indian Women’s Teams, at the senior and youth level, produced some highly admirable results and Bibiano Fernandes also continued his excellent work with the India U17 men’s national team.

Even though 2025 as a whole was a pretty gloomy year for Indian football, there were a few notable highs that brought joy to the fans. Here, we look at the top five highs of Indian football in 2025.

5. East Bengal playing in AFC Women’s Champions League Group Stages

East Bengal’s women’s team earned the right to try and qualify for the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League after winning the 2024-25 Indian Women’s League title in style. The Red & Gold Brigade had to play in the preliminary stages of the AFC Women’s Champions League to earn a place in the group stages.

However, the Kolkata side showcased a lot of grit in their group, which contained Kitchee WFC and Phnom Penh Crown WFC. They won their first match against Phnom Penh Crown, taking control of their group, before holding Kitchee to a draw in their second match to finish atop of their group and qualify for the AFC Women’s Champions League group.

East Bengal were put in a tough group against FC Nasaf, Iranian side Bam Khatoon and defending champions Wuhan Jiangda. They actually defeated the Iranian side by a 3-1 margin in their first match, raising their chances of finishing in the top two.

However, East Bengal suffered losses to Wuhan Jiangda and Nasaf, being eliminated from the group narrowly. Despite that, their performances and ability to get the first win for an Indian women’s team in the AFC Women’s Champions League made for a proud moment for Indian women’s football.

4. India qualifying for the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 by defeating Iran

Bibiano Fernandes marshalled his India U17 football team to take the fight to their opponents in the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers, which happened in Ahmedabad.

Despite being placed in a tough group against a strong Iran side, as well as Chinese Taipei, Lebanon and Palestine, the Blue Colts never stopped believing. They began the tournament with a sloppy 1-1 draw against Palestine, causing them to miss the chance to take control of the group.

However, a Dallalmuon Gangte hat-trick inspired India to get a comeback 3-1 win over Chinese Taipei, only for them to be brought down to earth with a loss to Lebanon in their next match.

The Blue Colts faced Iran U17 in their final group match, knowing a win would take them to the U17 AFC Asian Cup. Even though India went behind against Iran, they never stopped believing and completed a comeback to get a 2-1 win to earn a place in the AFC U17 Asian Cup for the second straight edition.

3. All three Women’s teams qualify for the AFC Women’s Asian Cups

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Even though the Indian men’s football scene had troubles in 2025, the women’s football soared by almost overperforming expectations. This can be labelled to every single one of the women’s football teams, which includes the Indian senior women’s Football Team, as well as the India Women’s U20 and the India Women’s U17 teams. That is because the players across the three separate levels were able to play at a very high level to make themselves proud at the international scene.

The India U17 Women’s football team dominated their way to qualifying for the 2026 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup, winning both games against Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Moreover, the India U20 women’s team also qualified for the Women’s U20 Asian Cup, winning two of their three qualifiers with wins over Turkmenistan and Myanmar. Then, the senior team topped it off with their amazing performances in the Women’s Asian Cup qualification, marking a step forward for Indian Women’s football.

2. Ryan Williams becomes India football team player

Ryan Williams marked a new era for the Indian Men’s Football team in 2025, as he did something that is almost unheard of for foreign players. The 32-year-old Bengaluru FC winger worked really hard behind the scenes to make his dream come true of playing for the Blue Tigers and that was finally achieved. In November 2025, Ryan Williams was able to officially obtain his Indian citizenship, to do which he had to surrender his Australian citizenship!

As a result, Williams has now paved the path to officially playing for the Indian Football Team at the international scene. As he only made one appearance for Australia in the international scene, FIFA rules will allow him to play for the Blue Tigers going forward. While Williams couldn’t make his debut for India in their loss to Bangladesh in the recent AFC Asian Cup qualifier, he now has the permission to play for them in 2026 & beyond.

1.  India qualifies for 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup

The shining moment for Indian football in 2025 can be credited to the Indian Women’s team, who did so by securing their place in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

After suffering the ultimate heartbreak in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, where they qualified (as hosts) but failed to participate because of a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad, Crispin Chhetri’s players were determined to properly qualify for the competition.

However, India were placd in a tricky group in the Women’s Asian Cup qualifers against the dangerous Thailand, Iraq, Timor-Leste and Mongolia. They were able to start the campaign with a 13-0 thrashing of Mongolia, before also dispatching Timor-Leste (4-0) and Iraq (5-0) in comfortable fashion.

Their biggest challenge, however, was against Thailand in the decisive final match to determine which of the two teams would make it to the Women’s Asian Cup. The Blue Tigresses took the lead through Sangita Basfore in the 29th minute, but the hosts equalized early in the second half.

However, Crispin Chhetri’s side never stopped pushing and Sangita Basfore scored her second in the 74th minute. The Blue Tigresses were able to hold onto the lead, securing qualification for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 – marking the first time since 2003 that they will play in the tournament.

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