Soccer in India

Soccer is a popular sport in India and there are several different soccer leagues in this large nation. The sport is in fact one of the two most popular sports in the country, the other one being cricket. The game is especially popular in large parts of northern India, but also in certain southern areas such as Kerala and Bombay. It is common to see kids play soccer in the streets of India and soccer is also played in almost all schools.

Indian soccer has developed a lot in later years as more leagues have seen the light of day and the country has gotten more professional players. The country is however yet not able to compete on the highest international levels, levels that are still dominated by South American and European teams. African and Asian teams are however constantly getting more competitive and produce better and better results in the world championships. India has won the Asian championships twice.

Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is today more correctly called, is considered the home of Indian football and is located in the Southern part of India in the West Bengal. The city is home to its own football league as well as to three of the nations most famous and successful teams: Mohammedan Sporting Club, East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC. Derbies between these teams attract more fans than any other football games in India.

Kolkata might be the home of football in India, but the quickest developing area scene is Goa, the famous tourist destination, where teams are quickly becoming contenders on the national scene. Goa football teams such as Dempo SC have been doing very well in the I-League in later years.

India has a developed league system with several different leagues in different parts of the vast subcontinent. The highest soccer league in India is the earlier mentioned I-League, which contains 14 different teams and is organized by the All Indian Football Federation. The I-League has a second divisions for teams that has not made it to the first division or been moved to the second division. The All Indian Football Federation oversees all formal association football in India.

Some of the biggest football leagues in India is Calcutta Premier League, Goa Professional League, Mumbai Football League, NFL-1 and NFL-2. You can read more about all of these leagues and the teams playing in them by browsing our website. In addition to these leagues, there are also numerous small leagues and informal tournaments to be found across India, as well as several different Indian soccer cups which you can read more about on one of our sub pages. You can also learn more about the Indian national team and their achievements and women's football in India by browsing this site.

If you are from the United States, it is important to realize that soccer is called football in most of the world and if you say football outside of the United States people will assume you are talking about soccer, not about American football. If you read the term football on this site, such as in the term Mumbai Football League, then football should be red as soccer an nothing else.