The India national under-23 football team is the men's football team that represents India at the under-23 level internationally. The primary goal of the team is the participate in the Summer Olympics, AFC U-22 Asian Cup, and the Asian Games. The team is currently controlled by the governing body of football in the country, the All India Football Federation.
Currently, the team has never qualified for the Summer Olympics with the senior team qualifying in 1960 and has so far never qualifyed for the U-22 Asian Cup as well. In the Asian Games the team has made it as far as the Round of 16 stage in 2010, only to lose to Japan 5–0.
Asian Games history
2002 Busan Games
India's under-23s participated in their first ever tournament during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. They were put into a group with China, Turkmenistan, and Bangladesh. Their first match was against Bangladesh in which India won 3–0 through a brace from future senior captain Baichung Bhutia and a strike from Renedy Singh. India then played their second match two days later against Turkmenistan where they won 3–1. Bhutia again scored a brace while Abhishek Yadav scored the third goal as India ran out 3–1 winners. Unfortunately, in their final match against China, India could not find the net as they fell 2–0 and thus were knocked-out of the Asian Games.[1]
2006 Doha Games
During the 2006 Asian Games India were placed in a group with Iran, Hong Kong, and Maldives. In their first match against Hong Kong, India drew 1–1 with Pappachen Pradeep scoring the lone Indian goal. In their second match India faced off against Maldives and won 2–1. Irungbam Surkumar Singh and Subhas Sumbhu Chakrobarty were the scorers for India that night. Finally, in their last match against Iran, India once again lost 2–0 and thus were once again knocked-out of the Asian Games.[2]
2010 Guangzhou Games
During the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, India were placed in a group with Qatar, Kuwait Athletes, and Singapore. India lost their first match against the Kuwait Athletes 2–0 and then lost their second match against Qatar 2–1 with the lone India goal coming from Dharmaraj Ravanan. India then went on to win their final match of the group stage against Singapore 4–1. Four players scored each goal, Jewel Raja, Balwant Singh, Jibon Singh, and Manish Maithani. The victory managed to help India finish in third-place which then helped India become the best third-place team out of all the other third-placed teams and thus qualified them for the Round of 16.
In the Round of 16, India took on powerhouse Japan at the Huangpu Sports Center. India went on to lose the match 5–0 with Kensuke Nagai scoring a brace and Ryohei Yamazaki, Kazuya Yamamura, and Kota Mizunuma scoring a goal each.[3]
Personnel
- As of 23 March 2015 [4]
| Position |
Name |
| Head Coach |
 Lee Johnson |
| Manager |
 G S Srinivasa Murthy |
Results and Fixtures
Current squad
The following 20 players were called up for the 2016 South Asian Games from 6 February 2016 to 15 February 2016.[5]
- As of 6 February 2016
Head coaches
Sri Lanka
Maldives
4', 59'
Bangladesh
Nepal
Des Bulpin
Arthur Papas
Wim Koevermans
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