Abstract
A country where cricket is not just a sport, but a passion. Other sports have relatively lagged in interest and attention. With over 1.4. billion people, India produced only one gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics which reflects on the lack of culture, priority, and ecosystem to support sports in the country except for cricket. Football is among the most watched and popular sports globally. In India, it is well known, but lags far behind cricket or other local sports like wrestling, hockey, even badminton in its following and interest. In this chapter, we focus on the immense potential of football in India which is still very much in its infancy. We explore the geo-economic considerations that might support the growth of football and its ecosystem in India as is the case with other emerging markets, especially in the background of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and India hosting the FIFA U-17 Men's and Women's World Cup in 2017 and 2022.