The India women's national football team represents India in women's international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation. Under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and governed in Asia by the AFC. India is also part of the South Asian Football Federation. The team was one of the best in Asia in the mid-1970s to early 1980s, when they became runners-up in the 1979 and the 1983 AFC Women's Asian Cup. The Indian women's national team is yet to participate in the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Olympic Games.
History Golden years (1975–1991) Football for women in Asia started later compared to their male counterparts. The seed of women's football in India was planted in the early 1970s. The first manager was Sushil Bhattacharya, in 1975 and from 1975 until 1991, the administration of the game was in the hands of the Women's Football Federation of India (WFFI), which comes under the Asian Ladies' Football Confederation (ALFC) that had recognition from neither FIFA nor AFC. Both organizations continuously tried to dissuade Asian countries from sending teams to these tournaments, for which the first few editions of AFC Women's Asian Cup seen very few teams. Thus, the 1980 featured two Indian teams (India N & India S), Western Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. India did well enough in all these tournaments under Sushil Bhattacharya. In the next edition of 1981 India achieved third position, defeated by Thailand, and became runners-up in the 1983, edition losing to Thailand again. This was the best chapter for the Indian women team in the Asian platform as since 1983 the performance declined along with mismanagement in the federation. The game was administered by WFFI from 1975 until the early 1990s, when they were absorbed into the AIFF.
Decline (1991–2009) The AIFF did very less to lift the women's football from their meager condition. It was the time when FIFA conceptualized and organised FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991 and International Olympic Committee started the women's competition at 1996 Summer Olympics. Time and again, the AIFF officials stated that lifting the standard of women's football to the level of their Asian counterparts was their chief aim. The AIFF failed to sponsor the team's first foreign trip in 1997 to Germany before the Asian Championships. Eventually, the trip was made possibly with the help of the German Football Association and NRI's living in Germany.
1998 Asian Games was first participation for the national team. They were defeated by Chinese Taipei 1–13, before facing the biggest defeat in the history by China PR with an embarrassing scoreline of 0–16.
The women's game reached a new low in June 2009 when FIFA delisted the side from its world rankings, for being out of action for more than 18 months. From 1991 to 2010 the performance of the Indian team was very poor, participating in just 5 editions.
Resurgence (2010–2021) After 2009 sanction by FIFA, the AIFF started to better the condition of the national team and women's football, which led to commencing SAFF Women's Championship and also including women's football in the South Asian Games. The women's team resumed playing on 29 January 2010 after nearly a year-long hiatus. Indian team earn massive success in SAFF competitions, winning the SAFF Women's Championship four times in a row without losing a single game. Additionally, they won two gold medals at South Asian Games.
They participated in the qualifiers for the 2012 Summer Olympics in March 2011. In their first match India has beaten group hosts Bangladesh 3–0. In the second round India played Uzbekistan, where they tied the first match 1–1, but lost the second leg 1–5.
India participated for the second time at the Asian games in 2014, but the condition was not better than the previous participation, 16 years back in 1998. Though India defeated Maldives easily with 15–0 score, a similar fate was faced by them in the next two matches, being defeated by South Korea and Thailand with the same score of 0–10.
In August 2018, Indian women national team was invited to participate in Cotif Tournament where clubs and national and autonomous teams participate every year since 1984, held at Valencia, Spain. 2018 Cotif was 35th Anniversary of the tournament. At this tournament they faced 3 Spanish club teams and Morocco. First lost to Fundación Albacete, 1–4, then to Levante UD, 0–5, then the Moroccan side defeated India with a score 5–1, but on the last match India played with maturity, though lost to Madrid CFF with 0–1 score.
In November 2018, India qualified to the second round of 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the first time since the qualifying tournament started for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
For preparation of 2020 Olympics 2nd round qualifiers India played two matches each against Hong Kong and Indonesia winning all four of them 5–2 & 1–0 against Hong Kong and 3–0 & 2–0 against Indonesia respectively. Following these matches India played at the 2019 Gold Cup organised at home, where they won their first match against Iran by 1–0 but lost next two matches to Nepal and Myanmar by 1–2 and 0–2 respectively and failed to reach the final.
2022 onwards
India returned to the AFC Women's Championship, now known as the AFC Women's Asian Cup, when it hosted the 2022 edition. They last appeared in 2003, before qualifiers was introduced since the 2006 edition. However India was forced to withdraw from the 2022 tournament it is hosting due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the team.
At the 2022 SAFF Women's Championship, India lost a match at the regional tournament for the first time. They lost against Bangladesh 0–3 in the group stage. The team also lost the semifinal against Nepal 0–1. Thus failing to win the SAFF title for the first time ever.
In July 2025, India secured a berth at the AFC Women's Asian Cup for the first time via qualification. India defeated group qualifiers host Thailand 2–1 to earn a berth at the 2026 edition set to be hosted in Australia. Head coach Crispin Chettri noted the distinct challenges in managing a women’s team, emphasizing injury risks and physiological considerations.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Legend
2025
2026
Team staff
Position Name Ref Head coach Crispin Chettri Assistant coaches Sujata Kar Nivetha Ramadoss Goalkeeping coach Mario Aguiar Strength and conditioning coach Amit Yadav Physiotherapist Asmin Dsouza Sadhvi Koyande Doctor Harleen Uppal Team manager Anjali Devi Mekala Media manager Akhil Rawat Team Director Subrata Paul
Manager history , after the match against Bangladesh.
Name Years Played Won Draw Lost Win % Sushil Bhattacharya 1975 – – – – – J. Krishnaswamy 1979–1980 5 2 2 1 N. S. Thapar 1981 5 3 1 1 unknown 1983 6 4 0 2 unknown 1986 2 1 0 1 I. Arumainayagam 1994 3 0 0 3 unknown 1995 3 0 0 3 unknown 1997 3 2 0 1 S. Arumainayagam 1998 3 0 0 3 Harjinder Singh 1999, 2005−2007 11 2 0 9 P. K. Kabui 2001 4 1 0 3 Ratankumar Singh Moirangthem 2003 3 1 0 2 Premkanta Singh Sapam 2007 2 1 0 1 Mohammad Shahid Jabbar 2009–2012 21 18 1 2 Anadi Barua 2013 5 2 1 2 Tarun Roy 2014 8 6 0 2 Sajid Dar 2015–2017 15 8 3 4 Maymol Rocky 2017–2021 34 18 5 11 Thomas Dennerby 2021–2023 21 7 3 11 Suren Chettri 2022 (interim) 4 2 0 2 Chaoba Devi Langam 2024 7 2 2 3 Santosh Kashyap 2024 3 1 1 1 Joakim Alexandersson 2024–2025 (interim) 2 2 0 0 Crispin Chettri 2025–present 17 10 0 7 Amelia Valverde 2026 3 0 0 3 Total 190 93 19 78 Note: Only International A matches considered.
Players
Current squad
The following 23 players were called up for the 2026 SAFF Women's Championship.
Caps and goals correct as of 6 June 2026, after the match against Bangladesh.
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the squad within the past 12 months.
Notes
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue
Previous squads
AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup Asian Games 1998 Asian Games 2014 Asian Games 2022 Asian Games
SAFF Women's Championship 2016 SAFF Women's Championship 2026 SAFF Women's Championship South Asian Games 2016 South Asian Games
Records
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
Most capped players
#PlayerYear(s)CapsGoals 1 Ashalata Devi Loitongbam 2011–2024 100 4 2 Grace Dangmei 2013–2026 96 24 3 Bembem Devi Oinam 1995–2016 82 18 4 Sangita Basfore 2016– 79 10 5 Sweety Devi Ngangbam 2018– 70 1 6 Anju Tamang 2016– 69 15 7 Sanju Yadav 2016– 65 11 8 Indumathi Kathiresan 2014–2024 59 17 9 Bala Devi Ngangom 2007–2024 58 48 10 Aditi Chauhan 2011–2023 57 0
Top goalscorers #PlayerYear(s)GoalsCaps1 Bala Devi Ngangom 2007–2024 48 582 Sasmita Mallik 2007–2017 36 423 Kamala Devi Yumnam 2011–2022 36 514 Grace Dangmei 2013–2026 24 965 Pyari Xaxa 2015– 21 476 Tababi Devi Thongam 1995–2011 19 7 Bembem Devi Oinam 1995–2016 18 828 Indumathi Kathiresan 2014–2024 17 599 Anju Tamang 2016– 15 6910 Manisha Kalyan 2019– 15 53
Captains Bold indicates current captain Reserve captains include vice-captains and others who captained in place of the incumbent in international competitive matches and friendlies
TenureIncumbentReserve captainsMajor TournamentsRef1980Judy D'SilvaChitra Gangadharan, Yolanda D'Souza1980 AFC Women's Championship1981Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar1981 AFC Women's Championship1983Shanti Mullick1983 AFC Women's Championship1994–1997unknown1998–2001Maria RebelloTababi Devi Thongam1998 Asian Games2001 AFC Women's Championship1999Chaoba Devi Langam1999 AFC Women's Championship200320072011–2016Bembem Devi OinamSradhanjali Samantaray,Madhu Kumari, Sujata Kar,Sasmita Mallik, Tuli Goon,Romi Devi Ashem, Bala Devi Ngangom2003 AFC Women's Championship2012 SAFF Women's Championship2014 Asian Games2014 SAFF Women's Championship2016 South Asian Games2005Sradhanjali Samantaray2007Sujata Kar2010Robita Devi Wangkhem2010 South Asian Games2010Tababi Devi Thongam2010 SAFF Women's Championship2013Tuli Goon2016–2018Bala Devi NgangomAshalata Devi Loitongbam2016 SAFF Women's ChampionshipBala Devi the first Indian woman to sign up for a foreign football club The HinduIndian female football players who showed the way Olympics.com2018–2024Ashalata Devi LoitongbamAditi Chauhan, Sangita Basfore,Indumathi Kathiresan, Dalima Chhibber,Grace Dangmei, Bala Devi Ngangom,Sweety Devi Ngangbam, Sandhiya Ranganathan,Manisha Kalyan, Panthoi Chanu Elangbam2019 SAFF Women's Championship2019 South Asian Games2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup2022 SAFF Women's Championship2024 SAFF Women's Championship2025–presentSweety Devi NgangbamSangita Basfore, Grace Dangmei,Pyari Xaxa, Shilky Devi Hemam2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup2026Grace Dangmei2026 SAFF Women's Championship
Competitive record
FIFA Women's World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup recordQualification recordYearResult 1991Did not enterDid not enter 1995 1999Did not qualifyVia AFC Women's Asian Cup 2003 2007 2011Did not enterDid not enter 2015Did not qualifyVia AFC Women's Asian Cup 2019 2023Withdrew from qualification 2027Did not qualify 2031To be determinedTo be determined 2035Total: 0/10–––––––––––––––
Olympic Games Summer Olympics recordQualification recordYearRound 1996Did not enterDid not enter 2000Did not qualifyVia FIFA Women's World Cup 2004Did not enterDid not enter 2008Did not qualify200208−8 2012311156−1 2016210147−3 20206321178+9 202452031013−3 2028Via AFC Women's Asian Cup 2032To be determinedTo be determinedTotal: 0/9––––––––187383642−6
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
AFC Women's Asian Cup