# India at the FIFA World Cup qualification

The India national football team has participated in ten editions of the FIFA World Cup qualification. This is the complete list of all the nation's matches played, along with records against each opponent.

## Summary

FIFA World Cup qualification record :
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Notes |
| 1930 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | |
| 1934 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | |
| 1938 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | |
| 1950 | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Group 10 winners |
| 1954 | Denied by FIFA | Denied by FIFA | Denied by FIFA | Denied by FIFA | Denied by FIFA | Denied by FIFA | |
| 1958 to 1982 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | |
| 1986 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | First round (2/4 in Group 3B) |
| 1990 | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | |
| 1994 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 22 | First round (5/5 in Group D) |
| 1998 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | First round (3/4 in Group 10) |
| 2002 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | First round (3/4 in Group 8) |
| 2006 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 18 | Second Round (3/4 in Group 3) |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | First round (Lost to Lebanon (6–3) on aggregate) |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | Second round (Lost to United Arab Emirates (5–2) on aggregate) |
| 2018 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 18 | Second round (5/5 in Group D) |
| 2022 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | Second round (3/5 in Group E) |
| 2026 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Second round (3/4 in Group A) |
| Total | 57 | 12 | 17 | 28 | 52 | 101 | |

## Tournaments
### 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### East Asia Zone
##### Group 3B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Indonesia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 9 |
| India | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 |
| Thailand | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 4 |
| Bangladesh | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 4 |
Source: RSSSF

### 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | South Korea | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 | +22 | 15 |
| 2 | Bahrain | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 9 |
| 3 | Lebanon | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 8 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 19 | −10 | 5 |
| 5 | India | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 3 |

### 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### Group 10

| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Qatar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | +14 | 9 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| India | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 4 |
| Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0 |

### 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### First round
##### Group 8

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 5 | +16 | 12 | Second round |
| 2 | Yemen | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 11 | |
| 3 | India | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 11 | |
| 4 | Brunei | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | −28 | 0 | |

### 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### Second round
##### Group 3

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Japan | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | +15 | 18 | Third round | — | 1–0 | 7–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Oman | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 10 | | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 7–0 |
| 3 | India | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 18 | −16 | 4 | | 0–4 | 1–5 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Singapore | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 3 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — |

### 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Lebanon | 6–3 | India | 4–1 | 2–2 |
Lebanon won 6 – 3 on aggregate and advanced to the Third Round.

### 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### Second round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| United Arab Emirates | 5–2 | India | 3–0 | 2–2 |
United Arab Emirates won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third round.

### 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| India | 2–0 | Nepal | 2–0 | 0–0 |
India won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

#### Second round
##### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Iran | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 3 | +23 | 20 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Oman | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 14 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Turkmenistan | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 13 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Guam | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 7 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–6 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 |
| 5 | India | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 3 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — |
* ↑ FIFA awarded Iran a 3–0 win as a result of India fielding the ineligible player Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The match initially ended 3–0 to Iran.

### 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
#### Second round

* All matches since 19 November 2019 were played in a centralised venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
* Also all matches were rescheduled from their original dates.

##### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Qatar | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 22 | Asian Cup | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Oman | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 18 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| 3 | India | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 7 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 6 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 2 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |
* ↑ Qatar has already qualified for the World Cup as the host nation. They are later selected as host replacement within the qualified teams of the Asian Cup.

### 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
#### Second round
##### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Qatar | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 16 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 8–1 |
| 2 | Kuwait | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | India | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 5 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 5 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | — |

## Statistics
### Results by opponent

India has played against 22 different nations during FIFA World Cup qualification.
* Matches played from the 1986 edition to the 1994 edition had been provided with 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.
* Matches played thereafter have been provided with 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.
This is the performance table as of 16 June 2024.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Bangladesh | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 |
| Brunei | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 |
| Nepal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 |
| Philippines | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| Kuwait | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
| Guam | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Singapore | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 |
| Hong Kong | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 2 |
| Yemen | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Afghanistan | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
| Thailand | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lebanon | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Indonesia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 |
| Oman | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 1 |
| Qatar | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | −10 | 1 |
| Turkmenistan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 |
| Bahrain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
| Iran | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 |
| South Korea | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0 |
| Japan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | −11 | 0 |
2026 qualification opponents