did india ever qualified for fifa world cup
India qualified by default (by chance) for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. But the governing body AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time. Reasons shown by the AIFF included the cost of travel (despite the fact that FIFA agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses) lack of practice time, team selection issues and valuing the Olympics over the FIFA World Cup.
History of the India national football team