India, the world’s most populous country, has roughly over 1.4 billion people who call this Asian nation their home. With such a large population, it does come as a surprise that they are ranked as low as 141st in the FIFA world rankings. To put that into perspective, Curaçao, the smallest nation to ever qualify for the FIFA World Cup, has a population of just over 150,000, and they find themselves ranked 81st in the rankings (as of 01/02/2026).

Why does India find itself in this situation? Well, common knowledge is that cricket takes centre stage in popularity for the majority, but according to surveys, around 21% of people in India are football fans. This equates to roughly 305 million people. Why then does India perform so poorly when it comes to football? What are the factors behind the unfulfilled potential of this great nation?

The football league system, nearly every nation with a footballing culture has one. Teams from villages, towns and cities travel up and down their respective countries every week to fulfil a packed schedule of games, all to decide which team is better.