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Will India and Pakistan ever play in a FIFA World Cup finals game?

MenInG

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Not sure if this will ever happen but if it does then it will be one heck of a game!
 
India is already in FIFA 2017, soon as they add Pakistan a game will be possible. Not sure how soon that'll be though, given we're ranked 200 or something like that. No reason why they added India either, except to sell the game to 1B Indians.
 
One day it might be a reality however I don't care, I want Pakistan to focus on getting to the world cup and it doesn't matter if India qualifies or not.

Hopefully Pakistan can make to the world cup and It'd be great if we pulled an upset or two and made it to the knock out stage in our first appearance. If we could win it in our first appearance that'd be historic!
 
India is already in FIFA 2017

I believe the EA FIFA games allow you to make your own national teams and design their kits etc. If you're up for it, you could create a full-fledged Pakistani cricket team by yourself and wreck India with it:afridi1
 
Our national team has not played a game in 3 years due to political reasons.There is a lot of potential in Pakistani football,but I don’t think they will qualify in the next 5 editions at least.

India meanwhile has a decent chance to qualify for the 2026 WC,which involves 48 teams.
 
India meanwhile has a decent chance to qualify for the 2026 WC,which involves 48 teams.

Out of a total of 211 countries, Saudi Arabia is ranked #67, India #97 and Pakistan #201.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html

As Saudi Arabia qualified this time, and considering the progress India has been making, I would say that India has a decent chance of making it to a WC in the next 20 years. The growth of the Indian football league should also help.

However there is no point in getting to the WC and getting humiliated like Saudi Arabia. I hope to see India reach at the the quarter finals of the WC in my lifetime :)
 
Very much possible in the years to come (around 2040-2050 I'd say), some systemic changes and talent scouting (esp. given the very young pop ; median age of 23 in Pak/27 in India) can give fast results, that's the nature of the sport (as opposed to Test in cricket, where you need more technical polishing on a wider scale, which takes more time).

For instance, as Croatia beat Argentina 3-0 few days ago, if you look at their FIFA rankings, they went from 122 in 1993 to 9 in 1999. That was not even a decade.
 
Not sure if this will ever happen but if it does then it will be one heck of a game!

Dear MIG,

Please never mention India and Pakistan in one sentence as far as football is concerned.

Global ranking :-

India - 97
Pakistan - 200

With all due respect it will take decades and decades of improvement and investment for Pakistan to reach India’s level in football.
 
Very much possible in the years to come (around 2040-2050 I'd say), some systemic changes and talent scouting (esp. given the very young pop ; median age of 23 in Pak/27 in India) can give fast results, that's the nature of the sport (as opposed to Test in cricket, where you need more technical polishing on a wider scale, which takes more time).

For instance, as Croatia beat Argentina 3-0 few days ago, if you look at their FIFA rankings, they went from 122 in 1993 to 9 in 1999. That was not even a decade.

It’s about physicality too and last time I checked Pakistan fared poorly in physical sports bro. What are your plans about that? Are you going to produce world class athletes like magic suddenly? Croats were athletic. India also is way ahead in physical sports. Much better built and stronger.
 
Pakistan's lowly ranking is embarrassing. I am sure if a dedicated British Pakistani team played for Pakistan or from the Pakistani diaspora in general our ranking would greatly increase. Of course I am ignorant of the obstacles involved but could someone get in touch with Shad Khan, NFL team and EPL team owner and his billions, and hopefully play on any patriotic genes he may have, to invest in such a team. It would make a good movie...
 
It’s about physicality too and last time I checked Pakistan fared poorly in physical sports bro. What are your plans about that? Are you going to produce world class athletes like magic suddenly? Croats were athletic. India also is way ahead in physical sports. Much better built and stronger.

Croats in fact were the least athletic of the Southern Slavs, because they were urbanized early, being Catholics like the dominant Austro-Hungarian empire. Serbs are the most "athletic" in the region, being Orthodox they always had to live in a state of guerrilla mind in their rural/mountainous landscapes (itself a hard life), considering the world powers surrounding them were either Catholic (Austro-Hungarian) or Islamic (Ottomans).

Something on a large govt. scale should be done, like China did during its "isolation" and began to collect medals in all sports/tournaments.

Even India has invested in places closest to ancient Pakistan, like Haryana, while football is in fact more popular in Bengal/North-East.

If Imran Khan comes to power he'll harvest all the talent.
 
For those who do not know the only reason Pakistan is ranked 200+ is because our national team hasn't played an international match in 3+ years.
 
If they had played in the last three years, what ranking would be realistic? Do you think a British Pakistani team would beat the Pakistan national team?
 
Only way India can fancy it's chances in playing in WC 2026 is by investing in North East.
Best footballers in the subcontinent by a mile those people.
 
Mexico's victory over Germany should give South Asians hope. I used to think that we don't have the athletes to compete, but we have at least as good athletes as Mexico.
 
Mexico's victory over Germany should give South Asians hope. I used to think that we don't have the athletes to compete, but we have at least as good athletes as Mexico.

Are you seriously comparing South Americans with South Asians in football?
 
As a kid, I used to get told Pakistan won't make it to World Cup because every time they'd get a corner, they'd build a shop. British Asians will know what I'm talking about.
 
Only way India can fancy it's chances in playing in WC 2026 is by investing in North East.
Best footballers in the subcontinent by a mile those people.

Interestingly the best footballers in Pakistan are in the western Balochistan region and up north in Baltistan area. We in the middle are slow with our feet.:sanga
 
Interestingly the best footballers in Pakistan are in the western Balochistan region and up north in Baltistan area. We in the middle are slow with our feet.:sanga

Which is kinda surprising since we in the middle have produced some of the greatest field hockey players of all time.
 
It’s about physicality too and last time I checked Pakistan fared poorly in physical sports bro. What are your plans about that? Are you going to produce world class athletes like magic suddenly? Croats were athletic. India also is way ahead in physical sports. Much better built and stronger.

Pakistani soccer players don't look any less athletic than Indian ones, in fact they're taller on average. The problem is skill, lack of a system to nurture the talent and poor management from the football association. The only reason Pakistan is ranked so low is cause they haven't played a game in 3 years. FIFA rankings aren't hard to manipulate if you have a good football federation that organize friendlies regularly.
 
Interestingly the best footballers in Pakistan are in the western Balochistan region and up north in Baltistan area. We in the middle are slow with our feet.:sanga

When we used to play football against fareejes (neighborhoods) like Satwa (were the best as compromised of Balochis, Meenawis etc), Bur Dubai, Hamariya etc in Dubai, the best players were mostly Balochis or Iranis. If half of them were granted citizenship, the UAE team would have been a totally different beast.
 
Which is kinda surprising since we in the middle have produced some of the greatest field hockey players of all time.

I think we in the middle have some of the best wrists in the world. That is why we dominated hockey and squash and we could have done well in other racket sports like Tennis, Badminton etc with better facilities.
 
When we used to play football against fareejes (neighborhoods) like Satwa (were the best as compromised of Balochis, Meenawis etc), Bur Dubai, Hamariya etc in Dubai, the best players were mostly Balochis or Iranis. If half of them were granted citizenship, the UAE team would have been a totally different beast.

Isn't the Omani team full of Baloch? They haven't done much.
 
Isn't the Omani team full of Baloch? They haven't done much.

They have a lot of individual talent, especially with dribbling, don't have the infrastructure and experience of international football though. Totally different ball game.
 
When we used to play football against fareejes (neighborhoods) like Satwa (were the best as compromised of Balochis, Meenawis etc), Bur Dubai, Hamariya etc in Dubai, the best players were mostly Balochis or Iranis. If half of them were granted citizenship, the UAE team would have been a totally different beast.

If we establish top class acadimies and induct in them young kids from Balochistan alone(including Makranis), we can have a decent national team that can compete at Asian level. Talent in that region is immense but corrupt officials of PFF are busy filling their accounts from the money coming from FIFA.
 
If they had played in the last three years, what ranking would be realistic? Do you think a British Pakistani team would beat the Pakistan national team?

Pakistan was ranked 130 few years back while india was also floating around the same position at the time.

...and the team already has a few british Pakistanis but there useless really as they cant even get into EPL teams or even Championship teams.
 
They have a lot of individual talent, especially with dribbling, don't have the infrastructure and experience of international football though. Totally different ball game.

Exactly and good thing about them is that they are passionate, physically strong and play hard game. I have seen few very talented footballers from Faislabad and Islamabad but they do not have heart.
 
Would a hypothetical British Pakistani first Xl beat the Pakistan national team? Heading the ball a weakness?
 
Are you seriously comparing South Americans with South Asians in football?

Mexicans, not South Americans.

1) I said hope for the future, obviously there is no comparison at the present.

2) I probably know more Mexicans in real life than you do, and the comparison can indeed be made.
 
Mexicans, not South Americans.

1) I said hope for the future, obviously there is no comparison at the present.

2) I probably know more Mexicans in real life than you do, and the comparison can indeed be made.

I was talking along the lines of their physicality which was obviously what you were pointing at.

Hope point is valid.

Don't get what you knowing more Mexicans has got to do with anything, their footballing culture and history is way, way ahead of Indians.
 
They have a lot of individual talent, especially with dribbling, don't have the infrastructure and experience of international football though. Totally different ball game.

So what is the situation with football in Pakistan? Is it played by many youngsters in school and college, or is it all cricket? Also, is there a domestic league?

Growing up in India I played much more football than cricket (was perfectly horrible at cricket). The passion playing football generates is incredible.
 
Mexico's victory over Germany should give South Asians hope. I used to think that we don't have the athletes to compete, but we have at least as good athletes as Mexico.

Pakistan and India looses to team with big margin, who has no chance of World Cup qualifying, that too from Asia. Asia has worse teams of all, despite being 2/3 of world population... We always see same asian team in WC(SA,Iran, Korea, Japan) and all those are easiest team to beat :facepalm:

Foot ball in asian is too far behind, there is no change in our lifetime. We don't have culture of football. Europe, Brazil and ARG has culture to remain competitive most of the team...Rest are just like associates in cricket...
 
I was talking along the lines of their physicality which was obviously what you were pointing at.

Hope point is valid.

Don't get what you knowing more Mexicans has got to do with anything, their footballing culture and history is way, way ahead of Indians.

I meant to say that South Asians may match Mexicans athletically, at least in the near future. Like South Asia, Mexico won zero medals in the last Summer Olympics!

My point was that culture can be developed. However, if you don't have the athletes, you will never succeed.

And btw, India has a pretty long culture of football. Bengalis and Goanese are totally crazy about the game for over a century.
 
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So what is the situation with football in Pakistan? Is it played by many youngsters in school and college, or is it all cricket? Also, is there a domestic league?

Growing up in India I played much more football than cricket (was perfectly horrible at cricket). The passion playing football generates is incredible.

Why are you bringing Pakistan into this? I was talking about the expat Balochis in the UAE.

Anyway yes the last time I was there (4 years ago) I saw more youngsters playing football rather than cricket as was much more feasible.

No, there is no such professional league per say which was my whole point that there isn't a professional system or set up in place.

My sympathies that you were so bad at cricket.
 
Foot ball is also not just about Athleticism. Maradona was only 5'6" and was not super fit nor had a disciplined life style. He had weird personality and life style, yet on the field there was nobody better than him...Same is true with many Brazilian genius of past. Socrates, Falco, Romario, Ronaldo etc were not running around field all the time, but when they get the ball in the final 3rd, they will murder you...South American play their best, when they enjoy the game, they are treat to watch on those times, they popularize the game around the world...Nobody like to see boring defensive Italian foot ball...

Ramario after winning WC, got signed by Barcelona, he was force to do proper training, waking up early in the morning, exercise routine etc. He did not like that, he was fun loving, partying Brazilian. He did not last season there, too much work ;-)

Similarly, Zidane was rejected by Algerian national team, he is too slow and fragile. He end up winning the WC and one of the best player to come out of Europe in last 50 years...

Even now you look at Neymar, he is a character and looks pretty fragile, but has already scored 56 goals for Brazil(only behind Pele and Ronaldo, he is only 26) and if he gets into rhythm, Brazil can win the Cup!!
 
I meant to say that South Asians may match Mexicans athletically, at least in the near future. Like South Asia, Mexico won zero medals in the last Summer Olympics!

My point was that culture can be developed. However, if you don't have the athletes, you will never succeed.

And btw, India has a pretty long culture of football. Bengalis and Goanese are totally crazy about the game for over a century.

Yes I know why you compared Mexicans to South Asians as I have mentioned.

It's not about culture it's about infrastructure and quality of leagues too too. You can have a thousand year culture but do you really think that the Indian soccer league teams can compare with Boca, River, Independente, Flamenco, Corinthinians, Chivas etc ?
 
Why are you bringing Pakistan into this? I was talking about the expat Balochis in the UAE.

Just curious about the situation in Pakistan, that is all. Actually my posts were meant for the thread "Will India and Pakistan ever play in a FIFA World Cup match?", but I mistakenly posted them to this thread.

Football was/is popular in Indian Punjab, which I believe is rather similar culturally to Pakistan. JCT from Hoshiarpur, Punjab achieved quite a bit of domestic success.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCT_F.C.

My sympathies that you were so bad at cricket.

No problem, I survived... being better at football, math and physics helped :)
 
I meant to say that South Asians may match Mexicans athletically, at least in the near future. Like South Asia, Mexico won zero medals in the last Summer Olympics!

My point was that culture can be developed. However, if you don't have the athletes, you will never succeed.

And btw, India has a pretty long culture of football. Bengalis and Goanese are totally crazy about the game for over a century.

A better example would be the Japanese, they're one of the shortest teams in the world cup and are the best team in Asia.
 
Foot ball is also not just about Athleticism. Maradona was only 5'6" and was not super fit nor had a disciplined life style. He had weird personality and life style, yet on the field there was nobody better than him...Same is true with many Brazilian genius of past. Socrates, Falco, Romario, Ronaldo etc were not running around field all the time, but when they get the ball in the final 3rd, they will murder you...South American play their best, when they enjoy the game, they are treat to watch on those times, they popularize the game around the world...Nobody like to see boring defensive Italian foot ball...

Ramario after winning WC, got signed by Barcelona, he was force to do proper training, waking up early in the morning, exercise routine etc. He did not like that, he was fun loving, partying Brazilian. He did not last season there, too much work ;-)

Similarly, Zidane was rejected by Algerian national team, he is too slow and fragile. He end up winning the WC and one of the best player to come out of Europe in last 50 years...

Even now you look at Neymar, he is a character and looks pretty fragile, but has already scored 56 goals for Brazil(only behind Pele and Ronaldo, he is only 26) and if he gets into rhythm, Brazil can win the Cup!!

You can throw in Messi as well, he's only 5'5 or 5'6 but one of the greatest ever.
 
Dear MIG,

Please never mention India and Pakistan in one sentence as far as football is concerned.

Global ranking :-

India - 97
Pakistan - 200

With all due respect it will take decades and decades of improvement and investment for Pakistan to reach India’s level in football.

Anything's possible, a good run in the world cup qualifiers can put Pakistan in the world cup. Small countries with weak teams have made it to the world cup out of nowhere before.
 
Foot ball is also not just about Athleticism. Maradona was only 5'6" and was not super fit nor had a disciplined life style.

A better example would be the Japanese, they're one of the shortest teams in the world cup and are the best team in Asia.

Athleticism in football is not the same as athleticism in other sports like basketball, hockey etc. For football athleticism is speed and stamina. Height is relatively less important. A shorter stature (lower center of gravity) helps the player swerve and dribble better (Rossi, Baggio, Maradonna and Messi are good examples). For defenders, physical strength and height (to intercept air passes, especially in the penalty area) are important. For forwards, it is speed and finishing accuracy.
 
Pakistan are scheduled to play again in September.It will be our first game in 3 years.We won’t be qualifying for any World Cups if such a situation persists.India meanwhile have a much better infrastructure and are quite experienced.
 
It is in FIFA's interests for India to qualify for the World Cup, and it will happen soon. If they do not qualify on footballing merit in the next 15-20 years, I suspect their participation will eventually be facilitated one way or the other.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are completely pointless football nation that will never have any clout and leverage in this sport. I don't see FIFA taking any initiatives to help us feature in World Cups, and it will take a miracle for us to make it on footballing merit. Maybe in 40-50 years, but I will not bet on it.
 
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Pakistan are scheduled to play again in September.It will be our first game in 3 years.We won’t be qualifying for any World Cups if such a situation persists.India meanwhile have a much better infrastructure and are quite experienced.

Yes Pakistan need to start playing reguarly. India does have better infrastructure and also have the Indian super league now.

However both nations may not qualify for the World Cup finals for decades or even the next hundred years. The reason is they will need to beat nations who do play football regularly such as the Arab nations and the South Asian nations.

Both India and Pakistan are light years behind and until the kids get bored of cricket and move to football, little will change.
 
It is in FIFA's interests for India to qualify for the World Cup, and it will happen soon. If they do not qualify on footballing merit in the next 15-20 years, I suspect their participation will eventually be facilitated one way or the other.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are completely pointless football nation that will never have any clout and leverage in this sport. I don't see FIFA taking any initiatives to help us feature in World Cups, and it will take a miracle for us to make it on footballing merit. Maybe in 40-50 years, but I will not bet on it.

lol What

FIFA are increasing the number of team in the World Cup but why would they care if India qualifies or not? And how would they ensure their participation? Please do explain.
 
Lol, Indias ranking is inflated due to playing against laloo opponents in recent times where even the laloo teams send C grade squads and help India gain some cheap ranking points. There is a loophole in Fifa Rankings which is exploited by teams by organizing friendlies against weaker Nations , something which India is doing.

A fresh rule has been brought up by Fifa recently which will be in effect after the World cup, according to which rankings points will be gained according to ranking of the opposition, strength of the squad and importance of the tournament. The rankings will change on a daily basis after the matches are over and Indias ranking is expected to fall back where it is supposed to be , in the mid 140s. The days of inflating the rankings by organizing countless matches against weaker opponents are about to end.
 
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lol What

FIFA are increasing the number of team in the World Cup but why would they care if India qualifies or not? And how would they ensure their participation? Please do explain.

India is a market of 1.2 billion, with a rapidly growing market for football. FIFA has not been able to maximize the potential of the South Asian market yet, and India is of course the major player in the region. Their football league will pay dividends over the long run. It has been able to attract some ex-world class players and managers who have plied their trade in the Premier League, and clubs like Atletico Madrid have co-owned franchises.

It is only a matter of time before it propels the Indian National Team to a World Cup spot. The growth of Indian football is also of considerable interest to FIFA. three years ago, the FIFA website ran an article calling India the "sleeping giant" of football, and last year, the FIFA President called it a "passionate giant of football".

It is also not a coincidence that India were awarded the hosting rights of the 2017 U-17 World Cup. In the long-term, India is a viable option for hosting the World Cup.

I don't know how FIFA will push India to play the World Cup if they do not make it on merit, but 20 years ago, people would have laughed at the idea of Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022, and India hosting the U-17 World Cup in 2017.
 
India is a market of 1.2 billion, with a rapidly growing market for football. FIFA has not been able to maximize the potential of the South Asian market yet, and India is of course the major player in the region. Their football league will pay dividends over the long run. It has been able to attract some ex-world class players and managers who have plied their trade in the Premier League, and clubs like Atletico Madrid have co-owned franchises.

It is only a matter of time before it propels the Indian National Team to a World Cup spot. The growth of Indian football is also of considerable interest to FIFA. three years ago, the FIFA website ran an article calling India the "sleeping giant" of football, and last year, the FIFA President called it a "passionate giant of football".

It is also not a coincidence that India were awarded the hosting rights of the 2017 U-17 World Cup. In the long-term, India is a viable option for hosting the World Cup.

I don't know how FIFA will push India to play the World Cup if they do not make it on merit, but 20 years ago, people would have laughed at the idea of Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022, and India hosting the U-17 World Cup in 2017.

This is football not cricket. It's the most popular sport in the world with billions watching the World Cup across over a hundred nations. Just because you have a big population and a league means nothing when you are up against a lot of competition. Pele a while ago said an African team would win the World Cup by the year 2000 and yet no African team has reached the final and it's 2018 now.

FIFA promote football worldwide, it's their job so of course they want India and other nations such as China to improve in the game and hope more of their nationals take up the sport but in the end it will make no difference to world football if India never arrives at the finals.

South Korea, Nigeria, Mexico and even the UAE have hosted the U'17 World Cup. Does this mean the UAE are seen as potential giants by FIFA? lol

India will only get into the World Cup if they are given hosting rights which is highly unlikely as even England haven't hosted the World Cup since 1966.

I know you have a like for India but please it's just silly to make such claims in their support.
 
We will make it to the world cup soon and knock out India in the qualifiers by one of our forwards scoring a game winning goal in stoppage time. :afridi
 
If I can recall correctly, IND actually made the QF of 1948 Olympics (losing 3-2 to France ?), which was used as a sort of qualifier for 1950 WC, and IND actually did qualify for that WC in Brazil. However, I can't recall what was the reason that eventually they didn't go - could be financial or one reason I read (?) that FIFA made it mandatory to play WC games with boots, while most Indian players were groomed playing with bare foot; eventually AIFA decided not to send the team. In 1950s till early 1970s, IND actually was a soccer power in Asia and had that time 3/4 Asian teams qualified for WC, good chance that in 1962 or 1966, IND could have qualified for the WC - they were Asian runners-up in 1964, and won Asian Games Gold in 1962. Arguably, PK Banarjee was the best Asian player between 1958 to 1966.

However, it would have been tougher for a 32 Team WC now, with 4 Asian teams qualifying (5th one will always be Aussies) because top few Asian sides have improved considerably. But, from 2026, WC is 48 teams event and 8/9 Asian teams are going to qualify - apart from top 6/7 teams, next 20-25 Asian teams are not that good and quite closely matched - a good bunch of players under a good manager, it's possible to reach among top 10 in Asia by many countries. On top of that, since 1950s, 3 top Asian soccer countries have moved to UEFA (Turkey, Israel, Kazakhstan - Uzbeks are trying to get into as well), which gives more space - I am sure one or two from IND, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, Syria, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore will make it to USA.
 
Physically Pakistani's can become good footballers but lack the discipline. Our cricketers make so much money and yet are not disciplined with their diet or exercise. Without any monetary inspiration its very hard for Pakistan to become good enough to qualify for a World Cup. We are still far behind some of the Gulf teams who in themselves are awful.
 
From Visiting various Uni's and sporting institutions around the UK, there appear to be many Indian Students from India taking up Sports-related Fitness /medicine/ sports Psychology / Physiotherapy courses to utilize back in India. This appears to be part of a mass Sports promotion drive which I believe in conjunction with the current popularity of the Indian Fooball League franchises, will lay the foundations for an Indian Football team appearing in a future World Cup tournament.
However, Pakistan currently are light years away and need some serious grass-roots investment all-round to get there.
 
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