Along with Turkmenistan, Brunei, and Thailand, India U-17 was put into Group D of the Qualifiers campaign before going to the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup. It was anticipated that we would at least go to the group stages of the final competition if not the knockout stages, given we had qualified for the competition in the previous three editions. Even after winning the SAFF Championship and playing in a few friendlies prior to the qualifiers, the young Blue Colts were unable to qualify for the main competition. Let’s evaluate Ishfaq Ahmed’s team’s performance, from their 13-0 victory against Brunei to their 3-2 defeat to Thailand.
India thrashed Brunei with a 13-0 win
The young Blue Colts faced Brunei in the opening group stage game, which was expected to be a simple victory for India, at least on paper. The result at the end of the game was the same, with Ishfaq Ahmed’s squad easily defeating Brunei 13-0. Vishal Yadav scored the Blues’ opening goal of the match after just eight minutes. Despite the 5-0 score at the conclusion of the first half, the young Indian team continued to push aggressively and went for the kill in the second half as well.
In the second half, they added eight more goals, five of which came in the final quarter or so of play. That evening, the Blues had eleven different goal scorers, with Vishal Yadav securing a hat-trick. It was crucial to score more goals and widen the goal differential as much as possible because only the first team in the group received straight qualifying. However, as Brunei was placed last in the group, the goals were ultimately not taken into account for ranking the best second-placed teams.
Rishi’s strike helped India edge past Turkmenistan
Given that Thailand defeated Turkmenistan 2-0 in their opening group round match, India’s victory was necessary to maintain their aspirations of making it to the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2025. Ishfaq Ahmed made two changes to the side from the last game, bringing in Chingakham and Rishi Singh. The game’s fate was significantly influenced by the move to start Rishi Singh, who ultimately scored the game’s lone goal to win crucial three points.
With another victory, the Blue Colts moved up to second place in the standings with six points from two games, behind only Thailand on goal differential. Thailand led the standings with 21 goals in two games, including 19 goals against Brunei, while the Blue Tigers only managed 14 goals in two games. The squad just needed to get one point in the last game to maintain their chances of qualifying, at the very least.
Thailand ends India’s qualification dreams
A victory would guarantee the Blue Colts’ automatic entry into the competition, while a draw would position India among the top five second-place teams and earn them a spot in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2025. Thirty minutes into the match, Ishfaq Ahmed’s team grabbed the lead from the penalty spot, setting off a fantastic start. The lead lasted only two minutes when Siwakorn’s goal for Thailand tied the score. However, Vishal Yadav gave India the lead just before the half, giving the Blue Colts genuine optimism heading into the interval.
Siwakorn tied the score in the 60th minute, and Chaiwat scored the winning goal to give Thailand all three points. It was too late for India to produce an equalizer, as the young lads seemed disheartened as the referee blew the full-time whistle. India’s conservative strategy of protecting the scoreline lost them the game and their chance to advance to the main competition.
What next for India U-17?
The Indian squad won the 2024 U-17 SAFF Championship just a few weeks before the qualifications. However, the question that often crosses our minds regarding the national squad is if India can perform better in other competitions except the SAFF Championships. After competing in the tournament’s three prior editions, we have not been able to earn a spot in the U-17 Asian Cup this time around.
As part of their short-term Vision 2026, the AIFF intended India U-17 to compete in the U-17 FIFA World Cup. What a joke!? Without any effort on the ground, the federation aspires to participate in the World Cup, but we can’t even qualify for the Asian Cup. We need to put up a genuine calendar for the squad, where they will play against competitive nations every international break, rather than only planning friendlies and camps the days before the tournaments. If not, the country’s growth would permanently stagnate and Vision 2047 will remain simply a vision.
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