Gurpreet Singh Sandhu on India missing out on FIFA World Cup: Why didn’t we make it to the Asia Cup?

India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has reignited a new debate on the development of Indian football through an Instagram story in which he questioned the larger narrative of India’s ongoing absence from the FIFA World Cup. Instead of focusing only on the final stage of qualification, he shifted the focus to a more fundamental concern, India’s inability to consistently qualify for and progress in the AFC Asian Cup, which acts as the main competition platform in Asian football.

His report emphasized that qualifying for the World Cup was not an isolated achievement, but rather the result of sustained success at continental level over time. From his point of view, the more important question is not just why India are missing from the World Cup, but why the country has not been regular participants in the AFC Asian Cup and why it has struggled to consistently reach and advance in the knockout stages of the tournament.

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“I absolutely love the conversation so many people are having about why we are not on the toilet. People asking and answering are essential,” Sandhu wrote.

“As a player I can tell you that. We are not in the World Cup because we are not in the Asian Cup. To get to the World Cup, we have to be regulars in the Asian Cup and then be regulars in the knockout stages of the same. It is a step-by-step process. So the real question is, why didn’t we get to the Asian Cup?” added Sandhu.

HOW INDIA DID IN THE ASIA CUP?

India’s record in the AFC Asian Cup shows only five qualifiers in 1964, 1984, 2011, 2019 and 2023. 1964 remains their best performance, finishing second in the four-team round-robin format. However, this early success was followed by long gaps, including two decades without qualification and then a 27-year absence before returning in 2011.

When India returned in 2011, they were eliminated from the group stage after losses to Australia, Bahrain and South Korea. In 2019, India showed promise with a 4-1 win over Thailand, snapping a decades-long winless streak at the tournament, but still failed to progress after defeats to the UAE and Bahrain.

India qualified for the 2023 edition after a strong qualifying campaign, including a perfect record in the third round held in Kolkata. However, in the main tournament, after losses to Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria, they once again appeared in the group stage.

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Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

22 Jun 2026 18:16 IST