Indian Young Footballers the Best in Asia
According to FIFA executive Praful Patel, India’s youth football players are now amongst the very best in the Asian continent. There surge in quality is a testament to the massive investments being made into grass-roots football within the country. With a population of over 1 billion and a huge appetite for football, it is no surprise that the young crop of players are finally gaining the recognition they deserve.
India’s ambitious footballing authorities have determined that World Cup 2026 is well within their reach if they make the right investments into the grassroots infrastructure of the sport. ©jarmoluk/Pixabay
There is an overwhelming feeling within world football that the time of India to shine is finally upon us. Fundamentally, India has all the necessary ingredients to excel and prosper as a footballing powerhouse. The top striker in the domestic league, Sunil Chhetri recently made global headlines as he became the second-from-top career goalscorer amongst active players. The only man to beat him to this plaudit was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Players such as Chhetri can’t be discounted in driving the surge of interest in the domestic football leagues. In a cricket-obsessed nation, football has often played second fiddle and struggled to gain a loyal following. Let alone develop a profitable revenue model. But signs of change have been reverberating for some time now. His career plaudits earned him significant praise in the UAE, with the head coach in 2019 Alberto Zaccheroni expressing an interest in the player.
President of the All India Football Federation, Praful Patel, has explicitly said he has ambitious growth plans for the Indian football ecosystem. We can expect to see a continued drive to recruit and foster talent from a young age, and an increase in football at the grassroots level across India. All of this will serve to make the vision of India competing at the highest levels of international football a reality.
New Roadmap for the Indian Super League
The first test for the Indian Super League transpired not so long ago, just last year as the pandemic gripped the world and shut down the domestic cricket league, the football continued. The All-Indian Football Federation can take most of the credit for this extremely consummate delivery of their fixture schedule, and they were able to demonstrate an aptitude for safety and COVID restrictions within the matches.
Given their strong reputation in the country, and the trust that has been bestowed upon the Indian Super League, it is no surprise that organizers have ambitious moral agendas that involve unifying far-reaches of the country and birthing a new attitude towards the sport in India. Reaching every corner of the huge country, and the games occupying prime time television slots, there is intense interest amongst young people for this novel sport.
Going hand-in-hand with the organic interest growth trajectories is the interest being shown by corporate bodies seeking to sponsor some of the advertising opportunities. New infrastructure, glamourous stadiums, and pitches that look just like the carpets exhibited in the top European divisions are now part in parcel of what it means to play football in India.
World Cup 2026 in the Crosshairs
The FIFA World Cup in 2026 will have 48 teams competing in the final tournament. This increase in capacity has piqued the interest of India’s football federation, and it remains a beacon they are targeting over the course of the next few years. Other smaller nations around Asia are also plotting similar projects, with Vietnam already making huge investments in youth football projects as they attempt to become a serious player in 2026.
Future players are already shining bright, as the Indian U-16 squad was unfortunate not to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup after going down 0-1 to a very high-quality South Korea in the final of the qualification rounds. The federation continues to provide its U-15 talent with maximum international exposure with the hope of a few superstar future first-team players emerging from the pack.
Similar attention is already being given to the women’s squad in India, they will target the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Making these grassroots investments in the players around 13-14 years old seems to be the best strategy now for India to deliver on its lofty ambitions in global football.
