Football in India

Football in India
Football in India
	Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal
Country	India
Governing body	All India Football Federation (AIFF) ; (formed in 1937, joined FIFA in 1948)
National teams	India Men's; India Women's; India U-23 Men's; India U-20 Men's; India U-20 Women's; India U-17 Men's; India U-17 Women's; India Futsal Men's; India Futsal Women's; India Beach soccer Men's; India Esports
Nickname	The Blue Tigers/Tigresses
First played	1800s
National competitions
	List Senior Football Championship: Senior Men's National Football Championship; Senior Women's National Football Championship; National Beach Soccer Championship; ; U23 Football Championships National Games Football; ; U21 Football Championships Swami Vivekananda National Football Championship (U20); Khelo India Youth Games (U-21); ; U19 Football Championships Junior Girl's National Football Championship; ; U17 Football Championships Junior Boy's National Football Championship; Sub-Junior Boy's National Football championship; Sub–Junior Girl's National Football Championship; Khelo India Youth Games (U-17); ; University Football Championship: Khelo India University Games; ; Inter-School Football Championships Subroto Cup; ; ;
Club competitions
	List Leagues: Men's Indian Super League (1st tier); I-League (2nd tier); I-League 2 (3rd tier); I-League 3 (4th tier); State leagues (5th - 9th tier); AIFF Futsal Club Championship; Youth League; ; Women's Indian Women's League (1st tier); Indian Women's League 2 (2nd tier); State leagues (3rd tier); ; Institutional League; ; Cups: Super Cup; Durand Cup; ; ;
International competitions
	List Clubs AFC Champions League Elite; AFC Champions League Two; SAFF Club Championship; SAFF Club Women's Championship; AFC Women's Champions League; AFC Futsal Club Championship; ; National team FIFA World Cup: Qualified (1950) Did not participate; Summer Olympics: Semi-finals (1956); AFC Asian Cup: Runners-up (1964); Asian Games: Champions (1951, 1962); South Asian Games: Champions (1985, 1987, 1995); SAFF Championship: Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023); Intercontinental Cup (India): Champions (2018, 2023); Tri-Nation Series: Champions (2017, 2023); Defunct AFC Challenge Cup: Champions (2008); Nehru Cup: Champions (2007, 2009, 2012); ; ; National U-23 team Asian Games: Round of 16 (2014, 2022); South Asian Games: Runners–up (2004, 2016); ; National U-20 team AFC U-20 Asian Cup: Champions (1974); SAFF U-20 Championship: Champions (2019, 2022, 2023); ; National U-17 team FIFA U-17 World Cup: Group stage (2017); AFC U-17 Asian Cup: Quarter-finals (2002, 2018); SAFF U-17 Championship: Champions (2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023); WAFF U-16 Championship: Runners-up (2018); ; National futsal team 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup; ; National beach soccer team AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup: Group stage (2007); Asian Beach Games: Group stage (2008); ; Women's national team AFC Women's Asian Cup: Runners-up (1979, 1983); Asian Games: Group Stage (1998, 2014, 2022); SAFF Women's Championship: Champions (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019); South Asian Games: Champions (2010,2016,2019); ; Women's U-20 national team AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup: Quarter-finals (2004); SAFF U-20 Women's Championship: Champions (2022, 2024); ; Women's U-17 national team FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: Group Stage (2022); AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup: Group Stage (2005); SAFF U-17 Women's Championship: Champions (2018, 2019); ; ; Preview warning: Page using Template:Collapsible list with unknown parameter "state"
Audience records
Single match	131,781 ; (1997 Federation Cup Semifinal: East Bengal VS Mohun Bagan at Salt Lake Stadium)

Association football is one of the most popular sports in India. According to a survey, 305 million Indians or around 21% of the Indians are football fans. Association football is the most popular sport in some Indian states, like Assam, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya and West Bengal. In Odisha, field hockey is number one. In the other Indian states, cricket is the main sport.

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the first FIFA event the country hosted. It was called the most successful FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, with a record-breaking attendance of 1,347,133, exceeding China's record of 1,230,976 from 1985. India also hosted the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and bid to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The Indian national football team qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup but did not participate.