India Sports Tribune

HYDERABAD, INDIA: With less than four months left before the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026, the Indian women’s national football team is preparing for a tournament that should be a turning point. They earned their qualification through a 2–1 victory over Thailand, a moment that should have been full of confidence, momentum and clarity. Instead, the months that followed have been filled with uncertainty, doubts and hesitation and that uncertainty has become the main part of the story.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) released a preparation roadmap earlier this year. It outlined 83 days of national camp divided into three training phases, along with 10 to 12 international friendlies and a stronger domestic calendar. On paper, this looked like good planning. It looked like intention. It finally looked like the beginning of something stable. However the reality has not matched the document. Only two friendly matches have taken place so far, against Nepal and Iran, and both ended in defeat for India.

These results were not surprising to those who understand team-building. You cannot create chemistry in short, interrupted intervals. You cannot demand peak performance from players who have not had match rhythm for weeks at a time. Preparation is not a motivational speech. It is repetition, minutes, sweat, film sessions, mistakes, corrections, and more minutes. They have not had enough of those.

Meanwhile, most of the country still has no way to watch them. Broadcast remains unreliable, streams disappear without notice, and media coverage is inconsistent. Visibility is not a luxury, it is a part of the infrastructure. If a team is not seen, it is not remembered. If it is not remembered, it is not backed. You cannot ask a nation to support what it is never given access to.

Most of India has no way to watch their women footballers in action

The infrastructure varies widely across the teams. Recovery support, nutrition, and medical care depend more on the individual club’s capacity than on a standard of professionalism. These are not small details. These are the details that decide careers. The national environment has also struggled for continuity. Coaching changes have arrived in the middle of important cycles.

The financial disparity makes the picture seem even clearer. While many Indian Super League (ISL) players earn between 40 to 70 lakh rupees per season, most senior women’s international players earn between INR 7 to 10 lakh. Even the highest-paid among them rarely cross INR 12 lakh. The message is not hidden. It is loud. It speaks largely of who is expected to prove that they belong here, and who is already assumed to do so.

And yet, they qualified. Not because the system helped them. Because they did not wait for it to. The Asian Cup is not just another competition. It is a chance for Indian football to show that the women who wear the crest are valued, and that their progress matters not only when the spotlight arrives, but in the long stretches of preparation where belief grows quietly.

The Blue Tigresses have already done what was asked of them. They earned their place. And they are ready to work for more. Readiness is not a question for the players anymore. It is a question for the system around them. But whether India is prepared will not be answered on paper. It will be answered on the pitch.

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