I am sure you are shocked!! India playing football??and that too World cup.. Yes is the answer.. In 1950, India actually was supposed to play in Football World cup. Many of the current generation are unaware that World Cup participation was offered to India on a platter. In the days before rankings, India was then recognized by FIFA as the best team in Asia and so was invited to participate in the 1950 World Cup at Brazil.
In the 1950 World Cup draw, India was placed in Pool III, with Sweden, Italy and Paraguay. India would have started their campaign against Paraguay on June 25 and their league fixtures would have finished by July 3. Paraguay was not a formidable team then and India could have held their own against them. Italy fielded a weakened side as their brilliant club side Torino, flying back after a friendly in Lisbon, crashed into the wall of a hillside monastery.
The Italian team was unsettled. They had travelled by ship to Brazil and were not in proper physical condition. So considering the circumstances, India could have matched the Italians in their second match. Maybe Sweden would have been too fast and physical for India but overall it would have been a great exposure for the national team.
If only India, or rather the All India Football Federation (AIFF), had accepted the challenge in 1950, it would have been a major boost for the game in a newly independent country. The international media exposure would have made our footballers household names. Instead, various reasons, like inadequate foreign exchange reserves, the long journey by ship and the problem of bare-footed players forced India to pull out of this tournament.
The Brazilian organizers wanted to make their tournament more representative and were keen to have a team from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and so even offered to pay most of the expenses. India’s entry remained in the draw till the tournament started and no other team from Asia was invited. When India did not turn up, Pool III became a three team group with the winners Sweden qualifying for the final round robin league phase. Though there is no clear-cut reason as to why India did not participate in the 1950 World Cup.
This withdrawal from the 1950 World Cup was a major setback for Indian football. Till the mid-sixties, India was amongst the top three in Asian football. In both, the 1951 Asian Games at Delhi and the 1962 Asian Games at Jakarta, India won the gold medal in football. In a regional competition known as the Quadrangular tournament, India was unbeaten champions for four successive years.
I hope one day comes again when I get to see Indian Football team qualifying for the Football World cup... Till then, its all a dream!!
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