Three games, three losses, two goals scored, 16 conceded, and comfortably bottom of their group with zero points - these were the bare numbers of India's campaign at the 2026 Women's Asian Cup in Australia.
Any pre-tournament hopes of FIFA World Cup qualification were firmly left in the dust after losses to Vietnam, Japan and Chinese Taipei.
The recriminations have been swift and plentiful - plenty of players have done their international and domestic reputation some major harm (sans Manisha Kalyan), with the AIFF getting its share of brickbats as well.
Yet, for a brief 10-minute spell towards the end of the first half against Chinese Taipei, India were a goal away from making the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, and 90 minutes away from World Cup qualification.
Just one goal, and the narrative would have been so different.
Instead, a cruelly unlucky handball via Pyari Xaxa gave a nervous Chinese Taipei something to hang on to, and as if to rub it in, the resultant penalty cannoned off the post into Panthoi Chanu's back and into the net.
It was a passage of play that summed up Indian women's football. Poor footballing circumstances and preparation, leading to poor performances, compounded by bad luck, and ultimately, embarrassment.
A missed opportunity that may prove to be worse in the long run
One only need look at the vitriol headed towards India's poor performers and the virality of Manisha Kalyan's free-kick to realise the potential of Indian football. A fandom is ready, waiting to explode - if the feats of its national team are even remotely worthy.
And the AIFF has perhaps missed its biggest opportunity in not backing this team to the hilt. The litany of broken promises in the build-up to the tournament were one thing, the mishap with ill-fitting kits ahead of the opener truly rammed the point home. AIFF's own-goal here was worse than Chanu's - simply because this was even more self-inflicted.
Amidst the chaos of the Indian footballing ecosystem in 2026, the fillip an Indian team making it to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, or even reaching the World Cup was not be underestimated. It could have revitalized the game, brought a spate of sponsorship money and interest into the game. Instead, the Indian team will return to a barely-functional Indian Women's League and disappear from the headlines again.
What makes it worse? It's only going to get harder from here on out.
Chinese Taipei were a team India would beat not even five years ago; Vietnam a team India could compete with, instead of chasing shadows. Japan are now so far ahead they might as well play a different sport. While the aim in decades past was to catch up to the Japans of the world, India are now playing catch-up to Chinese Taipei and Vietnam, and the advantages of the past are disappearing, fast.
By the time the next Asian Cup rolls around, a Manisha Kalyan won't be able to bully India's opponents, who are making rapid strides physically and tactically. While the gap between Asia's best and the others is reducing, India are already a decade behind.
It's a situation made all the more frustrating because a smoothly functioning ecosystem could have taken India to a World Cup - the gap to the top in women's football isn't as large as in men's football (which is pretty much an impossibility in this lifetime - even in an expanded 48-team World Cup).
That window for India may have closed - it's telling that Bangladesh looked a better outfit than India in this Asian Cup, and with SAFF supremacy already ceded to Nepal, India's prospects only look worse.
India were a goal away, though?
Yes, because at the end of the day, miracles do happen in football. It happened in Thailand, when Sangita Basfore scored two improbable goals to get India to this tournament, asking for another in Australia was perhaps a bit too much.
But that's what the AIFF has come to rely on - once in a lifetime miracles, as opposed to steady, measurable improvements that a nation like India deserves. Relying on a miracle like a Sunil Chhetri or a Manisha Kalyan - footballers who have defied logic in reaching the heights they've reached - instead of a group of 26 equally talented footballers who could have taken India to a World Cup.
There are those who questioned whether it was the right group that travelled, but it misses the point. Sanju Yadav may have had a mediocre IWL but her replacement would not have fared better. A Kajol D'souza left behind would not have fared better than Lynda Kom or Pyari Xaxa. As much as the temptation is to be frustrated with a group of footballers who were unable to support their most gifted teammate in any way, one has to understand where they play - in a league with mostly semi-professional opponents, where one or two teams have hoovered up the best players and there is little to no competition, if that competition is organized at all.
Why does a Manisha Kalyan look head and shoulders above her peers, when that wasn't the case in 2022? Four years of plying her trade abroad, in the UEFA Champions League, and now in Peru - against competitive professional opponents, day in, day out. The answer is staring AIFF in the face.
Where does the Indian women's football team go from here?
If the AIFF is serious about its status as the organization to drive Indian football forward (perhaps therein lies the answer already), they can still commit to doing much better.
A much-needed ground-up revamp is perhaps beyond this federation, but even holding the IWL in an expanded fashion (in time and number of teams), lowering the barrier to entry to facilitate more professional clubs buying into the system, creating a functional pyramid that is properly scheduled will also invite investment.
As for the national team, Amelia Valverde has shown enough to earn a continuance, whether the AIFF's coffers will allow for it is another matter, or even whether the Costa Rican - who has witnessed the federation's shoddy treatment first-hand - wants to stay, is up in the air.
However, none of the coaching issues matter if the players simply aren't good enough. The task for AIFF is simple enough - can they make more Manisha Kalyans, with more regularity? The answer... may be beyond them.