--- title: FIFA World Cup Qualifier: India Suffer Shocking Defeat to Guam description: At 174 in world rankings, Guam is 33 spots below India and has a population of less than 200,000 compared to India's 1.2 billion. canonical: https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-17T03:31:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:16:18.674Z article:section: Sports og:title: India Loses to Guam in FIFA World Cup Qualifier og:description: Guam is ranked 174th in the world and has a population of just 165,000 og:url: https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt089b10faecee435c/698854d7a988ca0a3e6b30d0/h_51999698.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: India vs Oman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: India Loses to Guam in FIFA World Cup Qualifier twitter:description: Guam is ranked 174th in the world and has a population of just 165,000 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt089b10faecee435c/698854d7a988ca0a3e6b30d0/h_51999698.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Country of 1.2 Billion Just Lost a Soccer Match to a Tiny Island Ranked 174th in the World by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jun 17, 2015 3:31 AM CUT  Indian football player Leihaorungbam Dhanachandra singh (L) and Oman football player Qasim said ( R) in action, during a World Cup Qualifier match against India, in Bangalore, India 11 June 2015. Indian football player Leihaorungbam Dhanachandra singh (L) and Oman football player Qasim said ( R) in action, during a World Cup Qualifier match against India, in Bangalore, India 11 June 2015.JAGADEESH NV—EPA by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jun 17, 2015 3:31 AM CUT India, a cricket-obsessed nation, is not really known for its soccer prowess. Ranked 141st in the global FIFA rankings, the South Asian nation of 1.2 billion is commonly known as one of the sport’s “sleeping giants.” The giant stayed asleep on Tuesday, as the Indian team slumped to a [2-1 defeat](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/16/football/world-cup-2018-guam-india/index.html "undefined") against the tiny Pacific island of Guam — a U.S. territory ranked 33 spots below it at 174 and with less than 200,000 people — in a World Cup qualifier. It was Guam’s second consecutive win after beating Turkmenistan 1-0 and it puts them at the top of their qualifying group, CNN reports. India, on the other hand, were dealt their second consecutive defeat after losing 2-1 to Oman at home last week and face an uphill battle for qualification. “We are disappointed,” Indian football coach Stephen Constantine said after the match. “Today the difference was very much visible between a group of players who have the best football education and the rest. Seventy-five percent of the players who represented Guam have been born and brought up in the U.S. and that made a huge difference.” \[[_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/16/football/world-cup-2018-guam-india/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/"},"headline":"A Country of 1.2 Billion Just Lost a Soccer Match to a Tiny Island Ranked 174th in the World","datePublished":"2015-06-17T03:31:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:16:18.674Z","description":"\"We are disappointed,\" India's coach said","url":"https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/","keywords":["Soccer","India","World Cup","loss","FIFA","Guam"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt089b10faecee435c/698854d7a988ca0a3e6b30d0/h_51999698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt089b10faecee435c/698854d7a988ca0a3e6b30d0/h_51999698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"India vs Oman","caption":"India vs Oman","creditText":"JAGADEESH NV—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/soccer/","name":"Soccer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/","name":"A Country of 1.2 Billion Just Lost a Soccer Match to a Tiny Island Ranked 174th in the World"}}]}] ```