India national under-23 football team

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India Under-23
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Blue Tigers
AssociationAIFF
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationSAFF (South Asia)
Head coachIgor Štimac (Asian Games)
Clifford Miranda (U23 AFC Qualification)
FIFA codeIND
First colours
Second colours
First international
India  1–1  Oman
(Hyderabad, India; 4 August 1991)
Biggest win
India  5–1  Pakistan
(Chittagong, Bangladesh; 2 February 2010)
Biggest defeat
 Japan 5–0  India
(Guangzhou, China; 16 November 2010)
India  0–5  United Arab Emirates
(Incheon, South Korea; 15 September 2014)
Asian Cup
AppearancesNone
Asian Games
Appearances4 (first in 2002)
Best resultRound of 16 (2010)
SAFF Championship
Appearances1 (first in 2009)
Best resultChampions (2009)
South Asian Games
Appearances4 (first in 2004)
Best resultRunners–up (2016, 2004)

The India national under-23 football team represents India in international under-23 football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). A member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the team is eligible to compete in the Summer Olympic Games, the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, and the Asian Games, subject to qualification.

Since only allowing under-23 sides to compete in the Olympic Games in 1992, India have never qualified for the summer games. The under-23 side have also never participated in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup while at best only making it to the round of 16 in the Asian Games.

History[edit]

Asian Games[edit]

2002 Busan Games[edit]

The under-23 side participated in their first ever tournament during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. They were put into a group with China, Turkmenistan, and Bangladesh. Their first match was against Bangladesh. India won 3–0 through a brace from future senior captain Baichung Bhutia and a strike from Renedy Singh. India played their second match two days later against Turkmenistan. They won 3–1. Bhutia again scored a brace while Abhishek Yadav scored the third goal as India ran out 3–1 winners. Unfortunately, in their final match against China, India could not find the net as they fell 2–0 and thus were knocked-out of the Asian Games.[1]

2006 Doha Games[edit]

During the 2006 Asian Games India were placed in a group with Iran, Hong Kong, and Maldives. In their first match against Hong Kong, India drew 1–1 with Pappachen Pradeep scoring the lone Indian goal. In their second match, India faced off against Maldives and won 2–1. Irungbam Surkumar Singh and Subhas Sumbhu Chakrobarty were the scorers for India that night. Finally, in their last match against Iran, India once again lost 2–0 and thus were once again knocked-out of the Asian Games.[2]

2010 Guangzhou Games[edit]

During the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, India were placed in a group with Qatar, Kuwait Athletes, and Singapore. India lost their first match against the Kuwait Athletes 2–0 and then lost their second match against Qatar 2–1 with the lone India goal coming from Dharmaraj Ravanan. India went on to win their final match of the group stage against Singapore 4–1. Four players scored each goal, Jewel Raja, Balwant Singh, Jibon Singh, and Manish Maithani. The victory managed to help India finish in third-place which then helped India become the best third-place team out of all the other third-placed teams and thus qualified them for the Round of 16.

In the Round of 16, India took on powerhouse Japan at the Huangpu Sports Center. India went on to lose the match 5–0 with Kensuke Nagai scoring a brace and Ryohei Yamazaki, Kazuya Yamamura, and Kota Mizunuma scoring a goal each.[3]

2014 Incheon Games[edit]

For the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, India were placed in Group G with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. In their first match against the United Arab Emirates, India went down 5–0. Seven days later, India were defeated by Jordan 2–0 to end their Asian Games participation.[4]

Other tournaments[edit]

2009 SAFF Championship[edit]

Before the 2009 SAFF Championship in Bangladesh, it was announced that India would send the under-23 side to the tournament.[5] India were placed in Group A with Afghanistan, Maldives, and Nepal. In their first match against Afghanistan, India won 1–0 through Jeje Lalpekhlua.[6] In their next match against Nepal, a Sushil Kumar Singh goal was the difference as India won again 1–0.[7] Despite losing the last match of the group stage to Maldives 2–0 India were still through to the semi-finals.

India defeated Bangladesh in the semi-finals 1–0 through Sushil Kumar Singh.[8] Finally, in the final against Maldives, India won through penalties 3–1 after finishing extra-time with the score at 0–0 to win the championship.[9]

Results and fixtures[edit]

For past match results of the national team, see the team's results page. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2023[edit]

6 September 2023 (2023-09-06) 2024 AFC U23 Q India  Cancelled  Maldives Dalian, China
Stadium: Dalian Sports Centre Stadium
9 September 2023 (2023-09-09) 2024 AFC U23 Q China PR  2–1  India Dalian, China
Report Hu Goal 90+3' (o.g.) Stadium: Dalian Sports Centre Stadium
12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) 2024 AFC U23 Q United Arab Emirates  3–0  India Dalian, China
Report Stadium: Dalian Sports Centre Stadium
19 September 2023 (2023-09-19) 2022 Asian Games China PR  5–1  India Hangzhou, China
Template:UTZ
Report
Stadium: Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium
Attendance: 34,513
Referee: Thoriq Alkatiri (Indonesia)
21 September 2023 (2023-09-21) 2022 Asian Games India  1–0  Bangladesh Xiaoshan, China
Template:UTZ Chhetri Goal 85' (pen.) Report Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre
Attendance: 5,232
Referee: Clifford Daypuyat (Philippines)
24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 2022 Asian Games Myanmar  1–1  India Xiaoshan, China
Template:UTZ
Report
Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre
Attendance: 6,315
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
28 September 2023 (2023-09-28) 2022 Asian Games India  0–2  Saudi Arabia Hangzhou, China
Template:UTZ Report
Stadium: Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium
Attendance: 37,066
Referee: Shen Yinhao (China)

Coaching staff[edit]

The current coaching staff of the team are:

Position Name
Head coach Croatia Igor Štimac[10]
Under-23 coach India Clifford Miranda[11]
Assistant coach India Nallappan Mohanraj[11]
Goalkeeping coach India Raghuvir Khanwalkar[11]
Physiotherapist India Gavin Elias Araujo[11]

Players[edit]

Squad for U-23 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers[edit]

The following players were called up for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification matches, held from 6 to 12 September 2023.[12]

Caps and goals are updated as of 30 October 2021.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Arsh Anwer Shaikh (2002-07-09) 9 July 2002 (age 21) 0 0 India Mohun Bagan SG
1GK Hrithik Tiwari (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22) 0 0 India Goa
1GK Prabhsukhan Singh Gill (2001-01-02) 2 January 2001 (age 23) 0 0 India East Bengal

2DF Abdul Rabeeh (2001-01-23) 23 January 2001 (age 23) 0 0 India Hyderabad
2DF Bikash Yumnam (2003-09-06) 6 September 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Chennaiyin
2DF Hormipam Ruivah (2001-01-25) 25 January 2001 (age 23) 1 0 India Kerala Blasters
2DF Jitendra Singh (2001-06-13) 13 June 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Jamshedpur
2DF Narender Gahlot (2001-04-24) 24 April 2001 (age 22) 4 0 India Odisha
2DF Sanjeev Stalin (2001-01-17) 17 January 2001 (age 23) 0 0 India Mumbai City
2DF Sumit Rathi (2001-08-26) 26 August 2001 (age 22) 2 0 India Mohun Bagan SG

3MF Amarjit Singh Kiyam (2001-01-06) 6 January 2001 (age 23) 3 0 India Punjab
3MF Ayush Dev Chhetri (2003-04-16) 16 April 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Goa
3MF Brison Deuben Fernandes (2001-04-17) 17 April 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Goa
3MF Jiteshwor Singh (2001-12-10) 10 December 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Chennaiyin
3MF Lalrinliana Hnamte (2003-04-29) 29 April 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Mohun Bagan SG
3MF Thoiba Singh (2002-12-12) 12 December 2002 (age 21) 0 0 India Odisha
3MF Vibin Mohanan (2003-02-06) 6 February 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Kerala Blasters

4FW Ninthoi Meetei (2001-07-13) 13 July 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Chennaiyin
4FW Parthib Gogoi (2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21) 0 0 India NorthEast United
4FW Rohit Danu (2002-07-10) 10 July 2002 (age 21) 2 0 India Bengaluru
4FW Sivasakthi Narayanan (2001-07-09) 9 July 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Bengaluru
4FW Sourav K (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 22) 0 0 India Gokulam Kerala
4FW Suhail Bhat (2005-04-08) 8 April 2005 (age 18) 0 0 India Mohun Bagan SG

Squad for the Asian Games[edit]

The following 22 players list is the India squad for the 2022 Asian Games. Originally named in the final squad, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Akash Mishra, Anwar Ali, Asish Rai, Naorem Roshan Singh, Lalengmawia Ralte, Jeakson Singh, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Sivasakthi Narayanan, Vikram Partap Singh withdrew due to their club's refusal to release them. On 18 September, Deepak Tangri withdrew from the squad and was replaced by Jeakson Singh, but he too was not released by his club.[13][14][15]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Dheeraj Singh (2000-07-04) 4 July 2000 (age 23) 6 0 India Goa
1GK Gurmeet Singh (1999-12-03) 3 December 1999 (age 24) 0 0 India Hyderabad
1GK Vishal Yadav (2002-05-05) 5 May 2002 (age 21) 0 0 India Jamshedpur

2DF Chinglensana Singh* (1996-11-27) 27 November 1996 (age 27) 0 0 India Hyderabad
2DF Lalchungnunga (2000-12-25) 25 December 2000 (age 23) 0 0 India East Bengal
2DF Narender Gahlot (2001-04-24) 24 April 2001 (age 22) 4 0 India Odisha
2DF Sandesh Jhingan* (1993-07-21) 21 July 1993 (age 30) 6 0 India Goa
2DF Sumit Rathi (2001-08-26) 26 August 2001 (age 22) 2 0 India Mohun Bagan

3MF Abdul Rabeeh (2001-01-23) 23 January 2001 (age 23) 0 0 India Hyderabad
3MF Amarjit Singh Kiyam (2001-01-06) 6 January 2001 (age 23) 3 0 India Punjab
3MF Ayush Dev Chhetri (2003-04-16) 16 April 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Goa
3MF Azfar Noorani (2000-10-17) 17 October 2000 (age 23) 0 0 India Gokulam Kerala
3MF Bryce Miranda (1999-09-23) 23 September 1999 (age 24) 1 0 India Kerala Blasters
3MF Samuel James (2000-03-11) 11 March 2000 (age 23) 0 0 India Punjab
3MF Vincy Barretto (1999-12-08) 8 December 1999 (age 24) 0 0 India Chennaiyin

4FW Aniket Jadhav (2000-07-13) 13 July 2000 (age 23) 2 0 India Odisha
4FW Gurkirat Singh (2003-07-16) 16 July 2003 (age 20) 0 0 India Mumbai City
4FW Rahim Ali (2000-04-21) 21 April 2000 (age 23) 6 1 India Chennaiyin
4FW Rahul KP (2000-03-16) 16 March 2000 (age 23) 5 0 India Kerala Blasters
4FW Rohit Danu (2002-07-10) 10 July 2002 (age 21) 2 0 India Bengaluru
4FW Sunil Chhetri* (1984-08-03) 3 August 1984 (age 39) 2 0 India Bengaluru

* Over-aged player.

Past squads[edit]

Asian Games[edit]

Competitive record[edit]

Summer Olympics[edit]

From 1908 to 1988, football at the Olympics was played by senior national teams.[16] and between these years India national football team competed at all Games from 1948 to 1960.[16] From 1992, FIFA allowed only U-23 national teams to play the tournament at the Olympics.[16] Though U-23 players were allowed, the qualifying matches of 1992 Olympics to 2012 Olympics were played by the Senior national team of India but failed to qualify to the Olympics finals from 1992 to 2012. AFC started AFC U-23 Championship from 2013 which is now acted as the qualifying tournament for the Olympics for the Asian countries, where top three teams are allowed entry to Olympic finals.[17] India is yet to qualify for the AFC U-23 Championship and thus also at Olympics since then.

Summer Olympics record Summer Olympics qualification record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA Pld W T L GF GA
19081988 See India national football team See India national football team
Spain 1992 did not qualify 4 0 1 3 3 7
United States 1996 4 2 0 2 8 7
Australia 2000 2 0 1 1 0 2
Greece 2004 2 1 0 1 1 2
China 2008 8 0 3 5 3 13
United Kingdom 2012 4 1 2 1 5 6
Since 2016, AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifier (top 3 finishers)
Brazil 2016 did not qualify did not qualify 2016 AFC U-23
Japan 2020 did not qualify 2020 AFC U-23
France 2024 did not qualify 2024 AFC U-23
Total 0 / 8 0 Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 4 7 13 20 37

AFC U-23 Asian Cup[edit]

AFC U-23 Asian Cup was initially set to be held as AFC U-22 Championships in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2012, but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014.[18][19] Till now, three championships held, in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. However, India failed to qualify to any of the championships.[20]

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record AFC U-23 qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA Pld W T L GF GA
Oman 2014 did not qualify 5 2 1 2 11 10
Qatar 2016 3 0 1 2 0 6
China 2018 3 1 0 2 3 4
Thailand 2020 2 0 0 2 0 5
Uzbekistan 2022 3 1 1 1 2 2
Qatar 2024 2 0 0 2 1 5
Saudi Arabia 2026 to be determined
Totals 0/7 0 Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 4 3 11 17 32

Asian Games[edit]

From 1951 to 1998 India competed in eleven Asian Games except the 1990 and the 1994 editions, and was competed by the senior national team. As the turn of the century, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) changed the rules of participation of players in the Asian Games. Since the Football at the 2002 Asian Games, the age of the players is limited to 23 years while three over–aged players are allowed among each squad, similar to the rules for participation at the Summer Olympics.[21][22][23][24] Though the senior team won the 1951 and the 1962 gold medal, and a bronze at the 1970 Asian Games but the India U-23 team has yet to win a medal at the Asian Games football tournament.[25][26]

Asian Games record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Ref.
19511998 See India national football team
South Korea 2002 Group stage 10th of 24 3 2 0 1 6 3 Squad [27]
Qatar 2006 Group stage 14th of 28 3 1 1 1 3 4 Squad [28]
China 2010 Round of 16 14th of 28 4 1 0 3 5 10 Squad [29]
South Korea 2014 Group stage 26th of 32 2 0 0 2 0 7 Squad [30]
Indonesia 2018 Indian Olympic Association did not allow team's participation[31] [32]
China 2022 Round of 16 9th of 21 4 1 1 2 3 8 Squad
Total 5/6 0 Titles 16 5 2 9 17 32

SAFF Championship[edit]

SAFF Championship record
Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA Team Ref.
1993 – 2008 See India national football team
Bangladesh 2009 Champions 1st 5 3 1 1 3 2 Squad [33]
2011 – present See India national football team
Total 1/1 1 Title 5 3 1 1 3 2

South Asian Games[edit]

South Asian Games record
Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA
1984 – 1999 See India national football team
Pakistan 2004 Runners–up 2nd 5 3 1 1 7 2
Sri Lanka 2006 Semifinals 4th 5 1 3 1 4 5
Bangladesh 2010 Semifinals 4th 5 1 2 2 5 3
India 2016 Runners–up 2nd 4 2 0 2 7 5
Nepal 2019 did not participate
Pakistan 2024 to be determined
Total 4/5 0 Titles 19 7 6 6 23 15

Honours[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. "Asian Games 2002 (South Korea)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. "Asian Games 2006 (Qatar)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. "2010 Asian Games". Olympic Association of Asia. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. "2014 Asian Games". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 15 November 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. "SAFF Cup Comment: India U-23, Not India, Signal Better Times For Indian Football". Goal.com. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. "India 1 - 0 Afghanistan: Jeje's winner". Maldives Soccer. 5 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  7. "India 1 – 0 Nepal: India into semi final". Maldives Soccer. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. "Bangladesh 0 - 1 India: Hosts crash out". Maldives Soccer. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. "Maldives 0 - 0 India: India wins on penalties". Maldives Soccer. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  10. "U23 Men". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Clifford Miranda appointed India U-23 Head Coach". the-aiff.com. AIFF. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  12. "Clifford Miranda names 23-member squad for AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers". the-aiff.com. 1 September 2023. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  13. "Sandesh Jhingan and two more players join Asian Games squad". the-aiff.com. 15 September 2023. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. "Igor Stimac names 22-member squad for 19th Asian Games Men's Football Competition". The AIFF. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  15. "Football Men's - Team Roster - (IND) India" (PDF). Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 "FIFA FACTS of Olympics" (PDF). www.fifa.com. FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
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  18. "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  19. "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  20. "India thump Turkmenistan in AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers". hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  21. "Sports : List of disciples (Football)". ocasia.org. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  22. "PFF chief names Akhtar as head coach of Asian Games team". The Nation. 29 August 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  23. "FIFA Facts" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  24. Barcelona 1992: Technical Report, Olympic football tournament (PDF). Barcelona, Spain: FIFA. 8 August 1992. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  25. Nag, Utathya (12 February 2023). "Indian football at the Asian Games: A glorious start that faded away". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  26. Stokkermans, Karel (12 July 2017). "Asian Games (Overview)". Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  27. Díaz Rubio, Julian; Zlotkowski, Andre (23 November 2006). "Asian Games 2002 (South Korea)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  28. Riaz Hai Naveed, Malik; Zlotkowski, Andre (4 September 2014). "Asian Games 2006 (Qatar)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  29. Zlotkowski, Andre (29 October 2014). "Asian Games 2002 (Guangzhou)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  30. Zlotkowski, Andre (6 September 2018). "Asian Games 2014 (Incheon)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  31. "Indian Olympic Association decides against sending Indian football team to the Asian Games". The Indian Express. 2 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  32. Di Maggio, Roberto (6 September 2018). "Asian Games 2018 (Indonesia)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  33. "South Asian Gold Cup 2009 (Dhaka)". Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  34. "India beat Vietnam to win LG Cup football". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]