Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia is history, last Sunday the final in Moscow was won by France and now we will have to wait until Qatar 2022 for the next FIFA World Cup.
And one question which seems to crop up every four years is, when will India play in a FIFA World Cup final round?
It’s such an easy question to ask every four years, but the answer on the other side is very complicated and not a short one, then there are numerous factors which could lead India to play or not in a FIFA World Cup in the competitions to come.
The Indian national football team has moved up the FIFA World Rankings from 172 to 97 over the last three years, but that is still not good enough to be an Asian qualifier for a FIFA World Cup, then currently only 4,5 spots are allotted to Asia.
Five teams in Australia, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea were the nations from Asia to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and with a number of other Asian sides ahead of India, the complex and tough qualifiers in the continent make it difficult for India to qualify. In recent editions only North Korea in 2010 were able to upset the Asian biggies and qualify for a FIFA World Cup.
But there are going to be changes to the qualification format in the future as by 2026, FIFA is set to expand the FIFA World Cup to 48 nations, maybe as early as Qatar 2022 which would then mean eight spots for Asia.
Still there are numerous countries ahead of India in the pecking order, but with eight, maybe even nine places for qualification, the barriers wouldn’t be as far away as they are now with 4,5 slots.
Also as I have mentioned, India has improved over the last few years and the India U-17 squad of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup at home in India will hopefully progress and take that Youth World Cup experience and improve our national team further.
We have not been able to create players of the quality of a Mo Salah (Egypt), Shinji Kagawa (Japan), Heung Min Son (South Korea) or a Christian Pulisic (USA), but a lot is happening at grassroots and youth football level across India and hopefully with kids starting to play football at a much younger age, we will be able to create world class talent, which goes on to play in the bigger European leagues.
And then there is the issue of Players of Indian Origin, who if allowed by the Government of India with an Overseas Citizen of India card, could also potentially fast track our dream of seeing India at a FIFA World Cup.
Until then playing in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates next January at the Asian level is like playing in a FIFA World Cup for India. The atmosphere of the tournament, fans, support, etc will be like any big international football tournament. Good results and making it into the knockout stages would be a huge boast for Indian football and maybe take us a little closer to the dream of seeing India at a FIFA World Cup in the future.
