India at the AFC Asian Cup

Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, India has qualified for five Asian Cups, in 1964, 1984, 2011, 2019 and 2023.[1]

The team played their first Asian Cup in 1964. It was India's best finish in the continental competition which came 55 years ago when they finished runners-up.[2][3] In 1964, India gained a direct qualification to the finals of the tournament after several Western Zone teams pulled out due to political reasons. 14 years after the country missed out on FIFA World Cup participation, the India national team had earned the opportunity to take centre stage in Asian football under English coach Harry Wright. Played in a round-robin format, the 1964 edition of the Asian Cup was won by hosts Israel but it had only four participants - one team from each zone. And with wins over South Korea and Hong Kong, India cemented second place. Inder Singh became team's top scorer with two goals.[2][3][4]

The team had to wait 20 years to qualify for the finals again.[5] And when they did, a group stage disaster awaited the Men in Blue.[2] The 10 participants were divided into two groups of five and India were placed in Group B alongside China PR, Iran, UAE and hosts Singapore. India lost three games and held Iran to a goalless draw to come away with a just a point in 1984. Saudi Arabia clinched their first Asian title, defeating China PR in the final. The legendary Krishanu Dey was part of Serbian coach Milovan Ćirić's India national team that battled it out with heavyweights like China PR and Iran.[2][6][7]

India against Thailand at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar marked India's third and most recent continental campaign. The Blues qualified on the virtue of being the winners of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup.[2] A Sunil Chhetri hat-trick and a goal by Bhaichung Bhutia helped hosts India defeat Tajikistan in the final of the Challenge Cup and qualify for the Asian Cup for the first time in 27 years. Drawn into Group C from Pot 4, the Blues lost all three of their group games to get dumped out of the tournament without any points on the board. Tim Cahill's brace helped Australia register a 4–0 win against India in the group opener. Gouramangi Singh and Chhetri scored in either half as India lost 2–5 to Bahrain and Chhetri's first-half spot-kick was the team's only consolation as South Korea thrashed them 1–4 in the final game in Group C.[2][8]

Eight years later, India national team qualified and was set to travel to UAE for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup under head coach Stephen Constantine.[2][9] The team won their opening match against Thailand with the help of Sunil Chhetri's brace and broke the 55 years winless drought. However, India lost two remaining matches and crashed out from the group stage for the third consecutive participation.

Record

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AFC Asian Cup record AFC Asian Cup qualification record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
  1956 Did not enter Did not enter
  1960 Did not qualify 6 2 0 4 7 9
  1964 Runners-up 2nd 3 2 0 1 5 3 Squad Bye
  1968 Did not qualify 3 0 1 2 2 6
  1972
to
  1980
Did not enter Did not enter
  1984 Group stage 10th 4 0 1 3 0 7 Squad 4 3 0 1 8 2
  1988
to
        2007
Did not qualify 21 2 4 15 17 57
  2011 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 3 13 Squad 2008 AFC Challenge Cup winners
  2015 Did not qualify Failed to win 2012 & did not qualify for 2014 AFC Challenge Cup
  2019 Group stage 17th 3 1 0 2 4 4 Squad 18 8 2 8 25 24
  2023 Group stage 24th 3 0 0 3 0 6 Squad 11 4 4 3 14 8
Totals Runners-up 5/17 16 3 1 12 12 33 63 19 11 33 73 106

1964 AFC Asian Cup

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A poster advertising India vs Israel match on 29 May 1964, at 4 pm, at Bloomfield stadium in Jaffa, Israel

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Israel (H) 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 6 Champions
2   India 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 4 Runners-up
3   South Korea 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 2 Third place
4   Hong Kong 3 0 0 3 1 5 −4 0 Fourth place
Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts
South Korea  0–2  India
Appalaraju   2'
I. Singh   57'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Davoud Nassiri (Iran)

Israel  2–0  India
Spiegler   29' (pen.)
Yohai Aharoni   76'
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Li Pak Tung (Malaysia)

India  3–1  Hong Kong
I. Singh   45'
Samajpati   60'
Goswami   77'
Cheung Yiu Kwok   39'
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Patrick Nice (Malaysia)

1984 AFC Asian Cup

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Group B

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  China 4 3 0 1 10 2 +8 6
  Iran 4 2 2 0 6 1 +5 6
  United Arab Emirates 4 2 0 2 3 8 −5 4
  Singapore 4 1 1 2 3 4 −1 3
  India 4 0 1 3 0 7 −7 1
Singapore  2–0  India
Awab   36'
Saad   81'
Attendance: 21,000

United Arab Emirates  2–0  India
Al-Talyani   81'
Khamees   88'
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Abu Wahid Shanbe (Oman)

Iran  0–0  India
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Koh Guan Kiat (Malaysia)

China  3–0  India
Lin Lefeng   19'
Gu Guangming   59'
Jia Xiuquan   79'
Attendance: 8,256
Referee: Ahmed Jassim (Bahrain)

2011 AFC Asian Cup

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Group C

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Australia 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 7
  South Korea 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 7
  Bahrain 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
  India 3 0 0 3 3 13 −10 0
India  0–4  Australia
Cahill   11', 65'
Kewell   24'
Holman   45+1'
Attendance: 11,749
Referee: Ali Al Badwawi (UAE)
Bahrain  5–2  India
Aaish   8' (pen.)
Abdullatif   16', 19', 36', 77'
Gouramangi   9'
Chhetri   52'
South Korea  4–1  India
Ji Dong-Won   6', 23'
Koo Ja-Cheol   9'
Son Heung-Min   81'
Chhetri   12' (pen.)

2019 AFC Asian Cup

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Group A

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Indian team defending against Thailand attack at 2019 Asian Cup.
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   United Arab Emirates (H) 3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 5 Advance to knockout stage
2   Thailand 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4[a]
3   Bahrain 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4[a]
4   India 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Thailand 3, Bahrain 0.
Thailand  1–4  India
Report

India  0–2  United Arab Emirates
Report

India  0–1  Bahrain
Report
Attendance: 11,417
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

2023 AFC Asian Cup

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India qualified by finishing as group D winners in third round. This marked India's first ever consecutive Asian Cup qualification.[10]

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Australia 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2   Uzbekistan 3 1 2 0 4 1 +3 5
3   Syria 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
4   India 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source: AFC
Australia  2–0  India
Report

India  0–3  Uzbekistan
Report
Attendance: 38,491
Referee: Fu Ming (China)

Syria  1–0  India
Report
Attendance: 42,787

Record by Opponent

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AFC Asian Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Wins Draws Losses Total Goals for Goals against Goal difference Points
  Australia 0 0 2 2 0 6 –6 0
  Iran 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
  Hong Kong 1 0 0 1 3 1 +2 3
  Bahrain 0 0 2 2 2 6 –4 0
  Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1 0 3 –3 0
  Thailand 1 0 0 1 4 1 +3 3
  South Korea 1 0 1 2 3 4 –1 3
  Israel 0 0 1 1 0 2 –2 0
  Singapore 0 0 1 1 0 2 –2 0
  China 0 0 1 1 0 3 –3 0
  United Arab Emirates 0 0 2 2 0 4 –4 0
  Syria 0 0 1 1 0 1 –1 0
Total 3 1 12 16 12 33 –21 10

Player records

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Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Goals Years (goals)
1 Sunil Chhetri 4 2011 (2), 2019 (2)
2 Inder Singh 2 1964
3 K. Appalaraju 1 1964
Sukumar Samajpati 1964
Chuni Goswami 1964
Gouramangi Singh 2011
Anirudh Thapa 2019
Jeje Lalpekhlua 2019

Goals by tournament

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No. Player Venue Opponent Date Edition Goals Ref.
1 K. Appalaraju Municipal Stadium, Haifa   South Korea 27 May 1964 1964 1 [11]
2 Inder Singh 1 [12]
Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv   Hong Kong 2 June 1964 1 [13]
3 Sukumar Samajpati 1 [14]
4 Chuni Goswami 1 [15]
5 Gouramangi Singh Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha   Bahrain 14 January 2011 2011 1 [16]
6 Sunil Chhetri 1 [17]
Al Gharafa Stadium, Doha   South Korea 18 January 2011 1 [18]
Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Thailand 6 January 2019 2019 2 [19]
7 Anirudh Thapa 1 [20]
8 Jeje Lalpekhlua 1 [21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "India 2019 AFC Asian Cup". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "India's performances at the AFC Asian Cup". goal.com. GOAL. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Asian Nations Cup 1964". RSSSF.
  4. ^ Chaudhari, Arunava. "The Indian Senior Team at 1964 Tel Aviv Asia Cup". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. ^ Chaudhari, Arunava. "1984 Singapore Asian cup Qualifiers". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1984". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Indian National Senior Team at 1984 Asian Cup". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2011". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  9. ^ "A look at India's Opponent at the AFC Asian Cup 2019; Sportskeeda.com". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  10. ^ Sarkar, Dhiman (14 June 2022). "India get to Asian Cup with a four-goal flourish against Hong Kong". Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  14. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2011". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2011". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2011". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  21. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2021.