India national football team at the Olympics

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India against France, football at 1948 Olympics
Indian captain Talimeren Ao (right) and French captain Gaby Robert (left) shaking hands before Swedish referee Gunnar Dahlner prior to the commencement of India's first Olympic match on 31 July 1948 against France.

1960 Games. India's best appearance was at the 1956 Summer Olympics where its team reached the semi-finals.[4] Beginning with the 1992 Summer Olympics, the rules were changed so that only under-23 national teams are allowed to compete in the Games. India's U-23 national team
has yet to qualify for the Olympic football competition.

History

1948 Olympics: first participation

Warm-up

Barefooted Indian footballers, 1948 Olympics
As dry weather, Indians were practising barefooted at Richmond park, London

In 1948, London hosted the 1948 Summer Olympic Games. The Indian football team made its first Olympic appearance in a match against France. This was the first match played by a team from the newly independent India.[5][6] Coach Balaidas Chatterjee had prepared the team which successfully defeated Department Store XI 15–0 on 13 July, and the Metropolitan Police F.C. 3–1 on 16 July. The team then went on to defeat the Pinner F.C. by 9–1 on 24 July, Hayes F.C. by 4–1 on 26 July, and Alexandra Park FC by 8–2 on 28 July.[7][8][9]

Most of the Indian players were not accustomed to wearing boots and some having dislike of being shod.[10] However, during trials in India, the players wore boots as the pitch was wet due to heavy rain.[11] Thus during the Games, the Indian team decided to wear shoes if the conditions were wet and if they had to play on soft grounds. As conditions were dry,[12] most players opted to play without shoes and instead wore bandages to protect their feet. Of the eleven players who took the field against France eight players were barefooted, three wore boots.[7][13]

The match

Members of India national team at the 1948 Olympics
Talimeren Ao on the left, leading the Indian team to Cricklefield Stadium to play against France.

On 31 July 1948, the first eleven men in independent India's footballing history walked to the middle of Cricklefield Stadium in front of 17,000 spectators wearing thick socks cut off at the ankles and bare feet strapped up to protect them and to provide grip.

René Courbin gave France a 1–0 lead.[9][12] Just before half-time, Swedish referee Gunnar Dahlner awarded India a penalty kick; Sailen Manna missed it as the ball flew over the crossbar. In the second half Ahmed Khan created an opening, he combined with substitute Balasundra Vajravelu, beat the French defense, and passed the ball to Sarangapani Raman who scored the equaliser in the 70th minute. His name was recorded as independent India's first international goal scorer. Ten minutes after Raman's equaliser, India had a chance to take the lead through another penalty. This time Mahabir Prasad's shot at the goal was saved by the French goalkeeper Guy Rouxel. With one minute to go before the final whistle René Persillon scored to give France a 2–1 victory and a place in the quarterfinals.[7][9][12]

Media and appreciation

India national football team photo session before 1948 Olympics match against France.
Indian team at 1948 Olympics, Talimeren Ao at the centre of first row, goalscorer Sarangapani Raman next to Ao and coach Balaidas Chatterjee to the extreme right.

The Indian team was acknowledged and appreciated by the crowd for their good sportsmanship. "The French had been given a run for their money – and that, too, by the barefooted Indians!", the British media reported.[14][15] At a press conference, shortly after the match, the Indians were asked why they played barefooted. The Indian captain Talimeren Ao said, "Well, you see, we play football in India, whereas you play BOOTBALL!". This was applauded by the British and the next day Ao's comment was in the headlines of London's newspapers.[15][16]

While the 1–2 loss to France and first round elimination was a huge disappointment to the team and the public alike, the quality of football the team displayed had captivated one and all. The Indian footballers' bravery and brilliance in bare feet at the 1948 Olympics earned them the admiration of Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.[17][18][19] King George VI invited the team to Buckingham Palace and there, as the story goes, he lifted up Sailen Manna's trouser leg, telling him it was just to check if he really had legs of steel as it appeared from the strength of his shots.[12][18] Encouraged by the accolades and the positive reception to India's football, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) decided to extend the tour with some friendlies across Europe over the next several weeks that enhanced the team's reputation at the time.[7][8][9]

1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympics

In 1952, under Sailen Manna's leadership at Helsinki, India would again lose in the first round, this time 10–1 to Yugoslavia.[20] The Yugloslavian Branko Zebec scored four of the ten goals for his side; the lone goal for the Indian side was scored by Ahmed Khan in the 89th minute as the final goal of the match.[21]

India national team playing against Australia at Olympic Park stadium, Melbourne in 1956 Olympics
Indian team at a tussle against Bulgaria at the 1956 Olympics.

Four years later, at the

Bruce Morrow scored two goals for the hosts.[22][24]

However, India failed to reach the final losing to Yugoslavia by 4–1 in the semi-finals. There were no goals scored in the first half. D'Souza scored the opening goal in the match for India at the 52nd minute, but in the next 15 minutes Yugoslavia scored three goals at the 54th, 57th and 65th minutes. A mistake by Indian defender Muhammad Salaam led to an own goal at the 78th minute ensuring Yugoslavia's victory in the match.[25] After the loss, India faced Bulgaria in the bronze medal match where they were again defeated by a score of 3–0.[26] With four goals Neville D'Souza became joint top scorer in that edition of the Games with Todor Veselinović of Yugoslavia and Dimitar Stoyanov of Bulgaria.[27] At

1960 Olympics in Rome, India was placed in a group with strong sides from Hungary, France and Peru.[4] The team was led by P. K. Banerjee under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim.[28] Tulsidas Balaram scored two goals, one each in the matches against Hungary and Peru, both of which India lost.[29][30] In the second match Banerjee's goal in the 71st minute would help India hold France to a draw.[31] With two losses and a draw, India placed at the bottom of the group and failed to move to the next round.[32] This was the last time India qualified for the Olympics in football.[33]

1964–present

From

1964, 1972, 1980 and 1984 Olympics India failed to qualify.[38][39][40][41]

Though U-23 players were allowed, every qualifying matches from 1992 Olympics to the

AFC U-23 Championship in 2013 which now acts as the qualifying tournament for the Olympics for Asian countries. The top three teams are allowed entry to the Olympic finals.[42] India has yet to qualify for the AFC U-23 Championship and thus for the Olympics since then.[43][44]

Record

India has played eight football matches at the Olympic Games, and managed one win, one draw, and lost in six of them.[31][45][33] India scored ten goals in seven matches against five different teams and conceded twenty-seven goals in eight matches against six different teams.[46] In 1948 and 1952, India was automatically qualified to play in the final tournament and for the 1956 Olympics, India was scheduled to play against Thailand in the qualification round, but both the teams got a bye as the Republic of China and the Philippines teams withdrew from the qualification round.[47]

For the 1960 Olympics, India was scheduled to play the first round of the qualification against Afghanistan. In the two-legged tie India won the away leg by 2−5 and in the home leg Afghanistan withdrew before the match. Eventually India moved to the second round where they defeated Indonesia in both legs and qualified for the Olympics.[48] 1960 Olympics would be India's last participation till date. From 1964 to 2012 India failed to qualify for the Olympics.[33] From 2016 onwards the AFC U-23 Championship was considered to be the qualification tournament for the Asian teams,[42] which India failed to progress from.[49][50]

Summer Olympics record Summer Olympics qualification record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W T L GF GA Pld W T L GF GA
1908–1936 did not enter did not enter
United Kingdom 1948 Round 1 11th 1 0 0 1 1 2 Qualified automatically
Finland 1952 Preliminaries 25th 1 0 0 1 1 10 Qualified automatically
Australia 1956 Semi-finals 4th 3 1 0 2 5 9 Bye
1960
 Round 1 13th 3 0 1 2 3 6 4 4 0 0 13 4
1964
 did not qualify 4 2 0 2 13 9
Mexico 1968 Withdrew
West Germany 1972 3 0 0 3 5 9
Canada 1976 Withdrew
Soviet Union 1980 5 1 0 4 5 6
United States 1984 8 3 1 4 11 14
South Korea 1988 Withdrew
FIFA allowed under-23 national teams onward (India national U-23 team)[a]
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 to be determined to be determined
Total Semi-finals 4 / 25 8 1 1 6 10 27 48 14 8 26 67 79
  1. ^ Till the 1980 Games amateur players were eligible to play the Olympic football tournaments. Professional footballers were allowed for the first time at the 1984 Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with a condition that they didn't participate in a FIFA World Cup before. Thus, most of the countries fielded young professional players for the 1984 and the 1988 Games.[51] This led to a new regulation agreed upon by the IOC and the FIFA, that under-23 players would participate from the 1992 Games onwards.[3][52][53]

Match summary

India squad at the 1956 Olympics
Men's Indian football team, 1956 Olympics.

India has scored the most goals against Australia in a 4–2 victory at the 1956 Olympics, their biggest win in the Olympic history. The most goals the team conceded were in a 1–10 loss against Yugoslavia at the 1952 Olympics, their largest defeat to date.[33][46]

Summer Olympics History
Year Round Score Result Ref.
1948 Round 1 India  1–2  France Loss [54]
1952 Prelim match India  1–10  Yugoslavia Loss [21]
1956 Round 1 India  w/o  Hungary † [55]
Quarter-final India  4–2  Australia Win [56]
Semi-final India  1–4  Yugoslavia Loss [25]
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) medal match India  0–3  Bulgaria Loss [26]
1960
 Group match India  1–2  Hungary Loss [29]
India  1–1  France Draw [31]
India  1–3  Peru Loss [30]
† At 1956 Olympics, India got a walkover as Hungary withdrew from the match due to Hungarian Revolution, thus India proceeded to QF without playing any match in the first round.[57]

Goalscorers

Former India national team player Neville D'Souza
Neville D'Souza, first ever Indian and Asian hat-trick scorer at the Olympics
No. Player Venue Opponent Date Edition Goals Ref.
1 Sarangapani Raman
Ilford, London
  France 31 July 1948 1948 1 [54]
2 Ahmed Khan Töölön Pallokenttä, Helsinki  Yugoslavia 15 July 1952 1952 1 [21]
3 Neville D'Souza Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne  Australia 1 December 1956 1956 3 [56]
 Yugoslavia 4 December 1956 1 [25]
4 J. Krishnaswamy  Australia 1 December 1956 1 [56]
5 Tulsidas Balaram Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L'Aquila  Hungary 26 August 1960
1960
 1 [29]
Stadio Adriatico, Pescara  Peru 1 September 1960 1 [30]
6 P. K. Banerjee Stadio Olimpico, Grosseto  France 29 August 1960 1 [58]

Coach, captain, and goalkeeper

Former India national team coach Syed Rahim, most successful India coach
Syed Abdul Rahim coached India in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics.
Edition Coach Captain Goalkeeper Matches played Ref.
1948 London Olympics Balaidas Chatterjee Talimeren Ao Kenchappa Varadaraj 1 [54]
1952 Helsinki Olympics Syed Abdul Rahim Sailen Manna Berland Anthony 1 [21]
1956 Melbourne Olympics Samar Banerjee Peter Thangaraj 1 [22][25][26]
S. S. Narayan 2 ‡
1960 Rome Olympics
P. K. Banerjee
 		Peter Thangaraj 3 [29][31][30]
‡ S. S. Narayan was the goalkeeper for the team against
Australia
at 1956 Olympics.

Squads

See also

References

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External links

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