Why is the Indian national team’s soccer team weak even though it has the largest population among sports? What is the reason? I’ll give you an explanation. Speaking of India, it is said to be the most populous country in the world, and isn’t it also a very strong soccer player? You may often think that. But, very surprisingly, it is known to be quite weak.
Disastrous record of Indian national soccer team
The Indian national soccer team is actually quite weak. I would like to introduce it to you, including its past results, but the reality is that even though it boasts such a large population, it is very weak.
India ranks first in the world’s population rankings
India ranks number one in the world in terms of population. This is the population ranking as of 2022. India’s population is expected to continue to grow, and it is said that it will overtake second place and below.
| No | Country | Population |
| 1 | India | 1,428.6 million people |
| 2 | China | 1,425.7 million people |
| 3 | United States | 340 million people |
| 4 | Indonesia | 277.5 million people |
| 5 | Pakistan | 240.5 million people |
| 6 | Nigeria | 223.8 million people |
| 7 | Brazil | 216.4 million people |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 173 million people |
| 9 | Russia | 144.4 million people |
| 10 | Mexico | 128.5 million people |
Indian national soccer team cannot win in Asia
India was once considered one of the strongest countries in Asia, but in reality, the Indian national soccer team has never won in Asia. In fact, since 1930, the team has been participating in and declining the Asian qualifying rounds for the World Cup, but they have lost in the qualifying rounds and declined in all of the tournaments. Moreover, the reality is that they have not even advanced to the final qualifying round. The level of Asia has increased now, but even Asia, which is considered to be one of the lowest continents in the world, is completely ineffective.
1950 Declined participation in the FIFA World Cup main tournament
However, the Indian national team qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals. However, just before the tournament, he declined to participate. The reason was that I wanted to participate barefoot, but FIFA refused.
Why is Indian soccer weak? What is the reason?
Why is Indian soccer weak? I will go into depth and explain why.
Cricket is the most popular sport
Actually, soccer is not popular in India. Cricket is the most popular sport in India, and field hockey and badminton are also very popular. Many professional players have been born in this field, and the country is particularly strong at cricket, ranking second in the world. The reality is that soccer is not being strengthened because talented people do not choose soccer.
Poor people aim to play major sports
In Brazil, the poor play soccer to escape poverty. This is what makes it cricket in India, not soccer. Cricket has a large number of viewers on television, and as a result, cricket is very developed commercially, and many poor people choose cricket as a way to escape poverty. Soccer is not chosen in the first place.
They don’t pay attention to other sports
Due to the above background, cricket has become a major industry in India. There are players who are paid hundreds of millions of yen in Japanese yen, and when they become famous players, they receive annual salaries and funds from sponsors. Cricket is said to be India’s biggest religion. Although India is experiencing economic growth, the gap between rich and poor is large, with 70% of the wealth being controlled by the richest 1%. The rest of the poor inevitably turn to cricket.
Caste system also influences
Needless to say, India has a caste system. Although the long-standing caste system has faded considerably in urban areas, this caste consciousness still remains strong, and many Indians still resist the idea of people from different castes playing the same sport. For this reason, there is some resistance to playing soccer, which is a team sport.
Watch the World Cup live
Video streaming services that allow you to watch soccer games are introduced in the article below. We are introducing channels that can be viewed on the Internet, TV, etc., so we hope you will find them helpful.
| Channel | Plan | Soccer Contents | URL |
| DAZN | 3750 | 代表チーム 欧州主要リーグ Jリーグ | DAZN |
| Hulu | ¥1026 | フランスリーグ オランダリーグ | Hulu |
| WOWOW | 2530 | UEFAチャンピオンズリーグ UEFAヨーロッパリーグ | WOWOW |
| ABEMA TV | ¥960 | 代表チーム ワールドカップ プレミアリーグ スコットランドリーグ | ABEMA |
| スカパー | ¥429 + ¥2480 | 代表チーム サッカー天皇杯 ブンデスリーガ ラリーガ | スカパー！ |
| J SPORTS | 1100 | FIFAワールドユース | J SPORTS |
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