India were invited by FIFA and the Brazilian Football Federation participate in the fourth World Cup in Brazil after a number of countries pulled out of the tournament that year, but the team couldn't take part as most of its players played the game barefooted, and, as per the stipulation of the world body, wearing shoes was mandatory.

It was only in 1985 that India did attempt to qualify for the quadrennial event when they took part in the qualifiers for the 13th edition, in 1986, at Mexico. However, they failed to get beyond the first round. In fact, they have participated in the qualifiers regularly since 1994 but failed to get beyond the first round.

A summary of India's performance in the World Cup.

First World Cup - Uruguay 1930 - Qualifying stage
India not a FIFA member. Could not participate.

Second World Cup - Italy 1934 - Qualifying stage
India not a FIFA member. Could not participate.

Third World Cup - France 1938 - Qualifying stage
India not a FIFA member. Could not participate.

In 1942 and 1946, the World Cup was not held because of World War II

India became a FIFA member in 1948

Fourth World Cup - Brazil 1950 - Qualifying stage
India were invited by FIFA and the Brazilian Football Federation but didn't take part because most of the Indian players played the game barefooted.

Fifth World Cup - Switzerland 1954 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

Sixth World Cup - Sweden 1958 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

Seventh World Cup - Chile 1962 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

Eighth World Cup - England 1966 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

Ninth World Cup - Mexico 1970 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

Tenth World Cup - West Germany 1974 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

11th World Cup - Argentina 1978 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

12th World Cup - Spain 1982 - Qualifying stage
India did not participate in the qualifiers.

13th World Cup - Mexico 1986 - Qualifying stage
India's performance in the qualifying tournament.
Group 6:
Indonesia 2 - 1 India
Thailand 0 - 0 India
1985 Bangladesh 1 - 2 India
India 1 - 1 Indonesia
India 2 - 1 Bangladesh
India 1 - 1 Thailand
Indonesia 1 - 0 Thailand
Indonesia 2 - 0 Bangladesh
Thailand 0 - 1 Indonesia
Thailand 3 - 0 Bangladesh
Bangladesh 2 - 1 Indonesia
Bangladesh 1 - 0 Thailand

No	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF/GA	GDIF	PTS
1.	Indonesia	6	4	1	1	08/04	+ 4	09
2.	India	6	2	3	1	07/06	+ 1	07
3.	Thailand	6	1	2	3	04/04	0	04
4.	Bangladesh	6	2	0	4	09/10	- 1	04

Indonesia qualified for the second stage

14th World Cup - Italy 1990 - Qualifying stage
India withdrew from the Asian zone qualifying matches.

15th World Cup - United States 1994 - Qualifying stage
Group D:
Phase I - in Lebanon:
07/05/1993 Lebanon 2 - 2 India
07/05/1993 Hongkong 2 - 1 Bahrain
09/05/1993 Bahrain 0 - 0 South Korea
09/05/1993 Lebanon 2 - 2 Hongkong
11/05/1993 India 1 - 2 Hongkong
11/05/1993 Lebanon 0 - 1 South Korea
13/05/1993 Lebanon 0 - 0 Bahrain
13/05/1993 India 0 - 3 South Korea
15/05/1993 Hongkong 0 - 3 South Korea
15/05/1993 Bahrain 2 - 1 India

Phase II - in South Korea:
05/06/1993 South Korea 4 - 1 Hongkong
05/06/1993 Bahrain 0 - 0 Lebanon
07/06/1993 India 0 - 3 Bahrain
07/06/1993 South Korea 2 - 0 Lebanon
09/06/1993 Hongkong 1 - 2 Lebanon
09/06/1993 South Korea 7 - 0 India
11/06/1993 India 1 - 2 Lebanon
11/06/1993 Bahrain 3 - 0 Hongkong
13/06/1993 South Korea 3 - 0 Bahrain
13/06/1993 Hongkong 0 - 3 India

No	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF/GA	GDIF	PTS
1.	South Korea	8	7	1	0	23/01	+ 22	15
2.	Bahrain	8	3	3	2	09/06	+ 3	09
3.	Lebanon	8	2	4	2	08/09	- 1	08
4.	Hongkong	8	2	1	5	09/19	- 10	05
5.	India	8	1	1	6	08/22	- 13	03

South Korea qualified for the second stage

16th World Cup - France 1998 - Qualifying stage
Group 10: in Qatar
20/09/1996 Qatar 3 - 0 Sri Lanka
21/09/1996 India 2 - 0 Philippines
23/09/1996 Qatar 5 - 0 Philippines
24/09/1996 Sri Lanka 1 - 1 India
26/09/1996 Sri Lanka 3 - 0 Philippines
27/09/1996 Qatar 6 - 0 India

No	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF/GA	GDIF	PTS
1.	Qatar	3	3	0	0	14/00	+ 14	9
2.	Sri Lanka	3	1	1	1	04/04	0	4
3.	India	3	1	1	1	03/07	- 4	4
4.	Philippines	3	0	0	3	00/10	- 10	0

Qatar qualified for the second stage

Indian team for the 1998 qualifier.
Hemanta Dora, Anit Kumar Ghosh, Aloke Das, Roberto Fernandez, Valappil Dhanesh, Carlton Chapman, Dipendu Biswas, Amit Das, Bruno Coutinho, Mani Vijayan, Gurinder Gill, Sayed Sabir Pasha, Feroze Shariff, Basudeb Mondal, Baichung Bhutia, Francisco Coelho, Surimani Singh, Raman Vijayan, Savio Mederira, Jiju Jacob.

Goals scorers:
Raman Vijayan, Bruno Coutinho - against The Philippines
Carlton chapman - against Sri Lanka.

India scored 3 goals and conceded 7.

17th World Cup - 2002 Japan and South Korea - Qualifying stage
Group 8: played on home and away format
07/04/2001 Brunei 0 - 5 Yemen
08/04/2001 India 1 - 0 United Arab Emirates
14/04/2001 Brunei 0 - 12 United Arab Emirates
15/04/2001 India 1 - 1 Yemen
26/04/2001 Yemen 1 - 0 Brunei
27/04/2001 United Arab Emirates 1 - 0 India
04/05/2001 Yemen 3 - 3 India
04/05/2001 United Arab Emirates 4 - 0 Brunei
11/05/2001 Yemen 2 - 1 United Arab Emirates
12/05/2001 Brunei 0 - 1 India
18/05/2001 United Arab Emirates 3 - 2 Yemen
20/05/2001 India 5 - 0 Brunei

No	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF/GA	GDIF	PTS
1.	United Arab Emirates	6	4	0	2	21/05	+ 16	12
2.	Yemen	6	3	2	1	14/08	+ 6	11
3.	India	6	3	2	1	11/05	+ 6	11
4.	Brunei	6	0	0	6	00/28	- 28	0

United Arab Emirates qualified for the second stage

Indian tean for the 2002 World Cup qualifiers
Virender Singh, Balaji Narasinha, Valappil Dhanesh, Deepak Mandal, Mahesh Gawli, Renedy Singh, Jules Alberto Dias, Ravi Prakash, Correia D'Cunha, I M Vijayan, Jopaul Ancheri, Neol Wilson, Irrungbam Singh, Baichung Bhutia, Abdul Hakim, Khalid Jamil, Venkatesh Shanmugham, Rajendra Singh.

Goals scorers:
Jules Alberto Dias - against UAE
Baichung Bhutia - against Yemen
Jo Paul Ancheri 2 goals, I M Vijayan - against Yemen
Jo Paul Ancheri - against Brunei
Jules Alberto Dias, I M Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Baichung Bhutia, Abdul Hakim - against Brunei

India scored 11 goals and conceded 5.