The India national under-15 football team, also referred to as India U-15, represents India in international association football at the under-15 level. It is controlled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the governing body for football in India, which is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and of the regional South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).

The AIFF describes the under-15 side as a preparatory step in its youth pathway, with the team eligible for the SAFF regional under-15 competition and for invitational age-group tournaments, and with the age group feeding into the under-17 side that contests AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualification. The team won the 2017 and 2019 editions of the SAFF regional championship, which were staged at under-15 level. In 2026 it was entered for the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan.

History

SAFF U-15 Championship The SAFF regional youth championship for boys was launched in 2011 as the SAFF U-16 Championship. For the 2017 edition it was restaged as an under-15 competition so that member associations would be better prepared for the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers held later that year, and it remained an under-15 tournament for the 2018 and 2019 editions before reverting to under-17 in 2022.

2017 India, coached by Bibiano Fernandes, won all four of its matches at the 2017 tournament in Nepal. It opened with a 9–0 win over the Maldives on 19 August and then beat hosts Nepal 2–1 to reach the semi-finals, where Bhutan were beaten 3–0. In the final at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur on 27 August, India came from a goal down to beat Nepal 2–1 through strikes by Lalrokima and captain Vikram Pratap Singh, taking the title with 16 goals scored and two conceded. Vikram Pratap Singh was named the tournament's best player.

2018 At the 2018 edition in Nepal, coached by Shuvendu Panda, India lost its opening group match 2–1 to Pakistan on 25 October. A 4–0 win over Bhutan on 29 October, with a brace from Shubho Paul and goals from Subba Kushang and Xalxo Aman, secured a semi-final place. In the semi-final on 1 November, Harsh Patra's 17th-minute strike was cancelled out by a 93rd-minute Bangladesh penalty and India lost the resulting shoot-out 4–2. India took third place on 3 November with a 1–0 win over Nepal, Thlacheu Vanlalruatfela scoring in the 18th minute.

2019 India hosted the 2019 edition at Kalyani Stadium in West Bengal and won it without conceding a goal. In the five-team round-robin phase India beat Nepal 5–0, Bhutan 7–0, Sri Lanka 5–0 and defending champions Bangladesh 4–0 to finish top of the table. In the final on 31 August, Fernandes's side beat Nepal 7–0, Sridarth Nongmeikapam scoring a hat-trick and Maheson Singh Tongbram, Amandeep, Sibajit Singh and Himanshu Jangra adding one each. India finished the tournament with 28 goals from five matches and no goals conceded; Himanshu Jangra was the leading scorer with seven.

FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival In December 2025 the FIFA Council approved the creation of a U-15 tournament for boys and girls, and on 24 June 2026 the Bureau of the Council appointed Azerbaijan as host of the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival, to be held from 22 to 31 October 2026 and open to boys' teams from all FIFA member associations. There is no qualifying competition; India was invited as a member association and the AIFF confirmed its entry.

The competition is a development-focused event rather than a conventional knockout tournament. Matches are played eight-a-side on a 68 m × 50 m pitch over two 20-minute halves, with unlimited rolling substitutions, kick-ins instead of throw-ins, offside applied only within the attacking third, and two referees. Squads are limited to 14 players, including at least two goalkeepers, and players must have been born in 2011 or 2012. A round-robin qualification stage is followed by a tournament stage in which teams are matched against sides that finished in the same group position, with no team eliminated. Each participating delegation is limited to 20 members, comprising 14 players and six staff.

Preparation Ahead of the tournament the AIFF conducted a nationwide scouting programme in which around 60 scouts assessed roughly 12,000 players born in 2011 and 2012 across more than 20 competitions, with 365 players called to central trials. A national camp opened at the Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru on 16 August 2026 under Fernandes, with players invited in batches and those not retained released to their clubs and academies.

On 8 September 2026 the AIFF announced a programme of 13 international friendlies to be staged in India between 25 September and 11 October 2026, subject to government clearance for the visiting teams' travel. The under-15 team was scheduled to play Iran in Bengaluru on 28, 29 and 30 September and Uzbekistan in Bengaluru on 8, 9 and 10 October.

Group and fixtures India was drawn in Group K of the qualification stage alongside Bahrain, Cameroon, Grenada, Laos and Senegal. According to the AIFF, India's matches are to be played at the Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, with the squad arriving on 22 October, training on 23 October, contesting the qualification stage from 24 to 26 October, resting on 27 October, playing the tournament stage on 28 and 29 October and the tier finals on 30 October.

Recent results and fixtures Matches in the last 12 months, and future scheduled matches Legend

2026

Coaching staff

Position Name Head coach Bibiano Fernandes Assistant coach Surinder Singh

The AIFF Executive Committee approved Fernandes's appointment as head coach on 6 August 2026 on the recommendation of the AIFF Technical Committee, subject to his acceptance, and at the same meeting approved Ranjit Bajaj as team manager. The two appointments were followed by a public disagreement over the division of roles, which was reported in August 2026 as having been resolved with both men taking up the positions. Fernandes signed his contract and took charge of the squad when the national camp began on 16 August 2026, with Surinder Singh named as his assistant.

Fernandes first led an India under-15 side in 2017 and has since worked across the country's youth age groups, guiding India to the SAFF U-15 title in 2017 and 2019, the SAFF U-17 title in 2022 and 2025, the SAFF U-19 title in 2025, and to qualification for the AFC U-17 Asian Cup in 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2026. At the 2018 edition India reached the quarter-finals.

Competitive record Red border indicates the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold and bronze backgrounds indicate first and third-place finishes respectively.

SAFF U-15 Championship Only the 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions of the SAFF regional youth championship were contested at under-15 level.

SAFF U-15 Championship recordHost/YearResultPosition 2017 Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 16 2 +14 2018 Third place 3rd 4 2 1 1 7 3 +4 2019 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 28 0 +28 Total 3/3 2 Titles 13 11 1 1 51 5 +46 *Drawn includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

SAFF U-15 Championship match history Year Round Score Result Ref2017Group B 9–0 Win 2–1 Win Semi-final 3–0 Win Final 2–1 Win 2018Group B 1–2 Loss 4–0 Win Semi-final 1–1 (2–4 p) Draw Third-place play-off 1–0 Win 2019Round robin 5–0 Win 7–0 Win 5–0 Win 4–0 Win Final 7–0 Win

FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival recordYear Host Result Ref 2026 Azerbaijan Entered; Group K

Notes

References

External links India U-15 men's national team at the All India Football Federation