How football in India has grown since the past two decades

2002: Bhutia leads India to win in LG Vietnam Cup defeating Vietnam in the final

2003: Bhutia-led East Bengal become the first-ever Indian club to win an Asian level tournament after defeating ACL runners-up BEC Tero Sasana

2007: NFL is revamped and named I-League

India win Nehru Cup defeating Syria 1-0 in the final

2008: India win the AFC Challenger Cup 2008 to qualify for 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar after 24 years

2010: Sunil Chhetri trials at MLS club Kansas City Wizards thus becoming the first Indian to play at MLS and only the third Indian to ply his trade outside India — Bhutia (Bury FC) and Mohammad Salim (Celtic) are the other two

2012: Dutchman Wim Koevermans leads India to third successive Nehru Cup crown defeating Cameroon ‘B’ on penalties in the final

2014: Koevermans resigns after India fail to retain SAFF Championship

2015: India reach their lowest Fifa ranking of 173

Stephen Constantine re-hired as head coach

India crash out in second round of 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers losing seven of the eight matches

2016: Constantine leads India to the SAFF Championship title where they beat Afghanistan 2-1 in the final

India reach third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers after defeating Laos 7-1 on aggregate in the play-off round

2017: By June, India climb up to 100th in the Fifa rankings

Secure qualification for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after a 4—1 victory over Macau

2018: Title-winning campaign in the four-nation Intercontinental Cup held in Mumbai along with Kenya, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand

India go on a 13-match unbeaten spree despite some tough friendlies against China, Jordan and Oman

Constantine’s tactics and team selection policies allegedly cause unrest within the Indian squad. AIFF issue a statement backing the coach

Start off 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign with 4-1 win over Thailand, making it the biggest ever Asia Cup win and the first one in 55 years

Lose 0-2 against hosts the UAE

Lose 0-1 to Bahrain

Constantine steps down

— Alaric Gomes, Chief Reporter