New Delhi, 26 December (H.S.): The Indian men's national football team endured a predominantly disappointing 2025, marked by elimination from the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers and a continued slide in FIFA rankings to a low of 142nd—its worst since 2016 and a 40-place drop since December 2023—despite marginally improved results over 2024's winless campaign.

While the Blue Tigers secured bronze at the CAFA Nations Cup—their first triumph over Oman via a 3-2 penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw, including a dramatic Udanta Singh Kumam equaliser and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's shootout heroics—no sustained momentum carried into crucial qualifiers, where defeats to lower-ranked Singapore (1-2 in Goa) and Bangladesh (0-1 in Dhaka, the first loss to them since 2003) sealed a winless run across five matches.

A coaching transition defined the year: Manolo Marquez departed, succeeded by Khalid Jamil—the first Indian head coach since Savio Madeira in 2011–12—who debuted at the CAFA Nations Cup in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, guiding India to third place with regulation-time victories over higher-ranked Tajikistan and a penalty upset over Oman, injecting optimism absent in prior tournaments.

Jamil's tenure faltered in qualifiers, however, exposing defensive frailties and attacking impotence against Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh, culminating in Asia's continental showpiece absence for the first time since 2011.

Record goalscorer Sunil Chhetri's mid-year international return—reversing his June 2024 retirement at coach Marquez's behest—offered fleeting hope but yielded minimal impact; omitted from later squads including the Bangladesh qualifier, he announced a definitive second retirement in November amid the qualification debacle.

No injuries or accidents marred key fixtures, though the year underscored systemic woes like ISL disruptions and talent pipeline gaps, leaving fans with isolated positives overshadowed by big-stage failures.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar