Trivia: India made it to the 1950 World Cup

No, don’t rub your eyes in disbelief. India did make it to the 1950 World Cup finals. Well sort of. Four countries from Asia were invited to participate in the qualifiers. Burma, Philippines and Indonesia all withdrew, so India qualified automatically.
India was placed in Group 3 with Sweden, Italy, and Paraguay. But their request to play barefoot was turned down by FIFA and they withdrew!
Abibi Bikila, the great Ethiopian runner ran barefoot winning the marathon gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Who knows what India could have done playing barefoot at the 1950 World Cup???

6 comments on “Trivia: India made it to the 1950 World Cup
  1. India’s only world cup (dis)appearance

    India did make it to the world cup, once. Kind of. Well, not really: No, don’t rub your eyes in disbelief. India did make it to the 1950 World Cup finals. Well sort of. Four countries from Asia were invited to participate in the qualifiers. Burma…

  2. so does that mean india will never qualify for the fifa wold cup again.
    i think there is a political reason or some thing. so what about other sporting activities

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