--- title: India's Narendra Modi Wants to Host BRICS Soccer Tournament Next Year description: But ranked at a lowly 156th in the world, India is hardly a match for Brazil (6th), Russia (28th), South Africa (70th) or even China (77th). canonical: https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-10T07:01:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:08:02.679Z article:section: Sports og:title: India's Leader Wants His Country to Play Brazil at Soccer og:description: This should be interesting og:url: https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73ef248f4b2b2624/69885a5f0a4a223e4b9c5170/gettyimages-507915859.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 507915859 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: India's Leader Wants His Country to Play Brazil at Soccer twitter:description: This should be interesting twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73ef248f4b2b2624/69885a5f0a4a223e4b9c5170/gettyimages-507915859.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # India's Leader Wants His Country to Play Brazil at Soccer ## Video: Know Right Now: Indian and Pakistani Leaders to Meet [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Indian and Pakistani Leaders to Meet](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vZv0GLY8.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2015-07-09. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will engage in bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Friday, at the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Ufa, Russia._ by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jul 10, 2015 7:01 AM CUT  Boys playing football Boys playing footballGetty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jul 10, 2015 7:01 AM CUT Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the Indian soccer team—currently sitting at 156th spot in the global rankings—to play soccer powerhouse and five-time World Cup winners Brazil, currently ranked 6th. He also wants India to meet the other nations comprising the BRICS bloc of emerging economies on the [soccer field](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/PM-Modi-moots-soccer-event-India-vs-Brazil-Russia/articleshow/48011689.cms?utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=timesofindia "undefined"). “India could host a football event next year,” Modi said at the ongoing BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia, on Thursday, according to the _Times of India_. Whatever Modi’s intentions behind suggesting the event and volunteering to organize it, demonstrating India’s sporting prowess cannot be one of them. India recently [lost to 174th-ranked Guam](http://time.com/3923804/india-guam-defeat-fifa-world-cup-qualifier/ "undefined") — a Pacific island nation of less than 200,000 people — in a recent World Cup qualifying match. Among the other BRICS nations, 2018 World Cup hosts Russia are 28th, and South Africa (which hosted the 2010 World Cup) is at 70 followed by China at 77. It remains to be seen whether Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff or her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will offer to host a cricket tournament to balance things out, but until then India should probably start practicing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/"},"headline":"India's Leader Wants His Country to Play Brazil at Soccer","datePublished":"2015-07-10T07:01:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:08:02.679Z","description":"This should be interesting","url":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/","keywords":["South Africa","russia","India","China","Dilma Rousseff","Xi Jinping","brics","Narendra Modi","brazil","Soccer","summit"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73ef248f4b2b2624/69885a5f0a4a223e4b9c5170/gettyimages-507915859.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/blt73ef248f4b2b2624/69885a5f0a4a223e4b9c5170/gettyimages-507915859.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"507915859","caption":"507915859","creditText":"Getty Images","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":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/","name":"India's Leader Wants His Country to Play Brazil at Soccer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Indian and Pakistani Leaders to Meet","description":"India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will engage in bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Friday, at the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Ufa, Russia.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vZv0GLY8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-09T08:28:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vZv0GLY8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3952520/narendra-modi-india-brics-soccer-tournament-host/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```