Like cricket, football was first introduced by the British in India. It was a sport solely played by the army before Indian club football took shape with the formation of Calcutta FC in 1872.
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While cricket is one of the most beloved sports in India, you probably didn’t know that football, or soccer as some people refer to it, was once the Indian national sport?
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the evolution of football in India, the popularity of the sport today, and the future of soccer in Ind.
Like cricket, football was first introduced by the British in India. It was a sport solely played by the army before Indian club football took shape with the formation of Calcutta FC in 1872.
Following the popularity and success of Indian clubs, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was set up in 1937.
In 1950, India qualified for the first time in the FIFA World Cup but withdrew due to travel costs, and other challenges. But, true to their passion, Indian football clubs continued to play, qualifying and competing in a number of other international competitions.
Pressing on with their commendable performance, India won gold medals in the 1951 Asian Games held in New Delhi.
They then went on to hit another record in 1956 by becoming the first Asian nation to make it to the Olympic football semi-finals in the Melbourne Olympics. Much later, in 1964, India went on to finish second in the Asian Cup.
The media’s coverage of association football in India has propelled the game to become more mainstream in recent years.
Many years ago, you would only read about football in an international sports journal. However, today, the sport is featured in Indian publications and news, covering national and international matches on a daily basis and is even becoming a popular sport that Indian punters place bets on.
The growth of India’s national football league has greatly contributed to the popularity of football in the country.
In 1996, the National Football League was created, but later morphed into what we now know as I-League, which gained some nationwide popularity.
However, the I-League never became mainstream throughout the country, but remained a more obscure league mostly followed by hardcore Indian football fanatics.
In 2013, the Indian Super League was created, which has brought an enormous change in the football market in India. The Indian Super League now has over 150 million followers, making it one of the most popular football leagues in the world!
The rise of football in India climbed new heights when India’s national football team secured a spot in the 2019 Asian Cup. Not to mention, India hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
It’s also important to note that India recently hosted the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time since 1979 and competed in the tournament for the first time since 2003.
This has given the country a huge opportunity to encourage more girls to take up football and possibly make it India’s most popular women’s sport.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 drew local broadcast audiences of nearly 300 million in India. Though India hasn’t qualified for the FIFA 2022 World Cup, the tournament is expected to have the highest-ever viewership from India.
With association football becoming a popular sport that Indian punters place bets on it is expected that a large number of football fans will also engage in FIFA World Cup 2022 betting.
This has led Indian online startups like MyBetting.in to compare football betting sites where Indians can bet on the World Cup.
With all this to say the future of India in football definitely looks promising. Association football clearly has a long way to go before it can compete with cricket in terms of popularity, but there is no denying that it has stirred growing interest in the country.
