All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel on Tuesday said that the National women’s side can qualify for the FIFA World Cup before the men’s team does, despite the less attention given to it.
Patel said the AIFF is hoping for the women’s team to qualify for the 2027 FIFA World Cup. Supporting his view, the sports ministry asked the AIFF to prepare a “concrete and actionable” roadmap to work towards the women team’s qualification in the 2027 World Cup.
“The women team’s FIFA ranking is better than the men’s, which is very good, as we have paid less attention to women’s football compared to men’s,” Patel said at a virtual interaction with the members of the under-17 Women’s World Cup team with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in attendance.
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“When these kids grow, I feel the women’s team will be participating in the World Cup much before the men... I’m very hopeful about the 2027 edition (of the World Cup). We will continue to give all the support and I am sure these players will represent India in the future,” said Patel.
The women’s team is currently ranked 55 out of 159 nations while the men’s team is 104 out of 210 countries.
Rijiju also expressed similar optimism, saying that in the near future, India will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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“Be it senior or junior, the ranking of the women’s teams is higher than men’s. We have the ability to qualify, even if we are not the host nation. I believe we will soon make it. We feel that the men should also qualify, he said.
SAI director General Sandeep Pradhan asked the AIFF to prepare a roadmap for the women’s team’s qualification for the 2027 World Cup.