The India national football team was one of the founders of the Asian Football Confederation. Formed in 1937, the team affiliated to FIFA in 1948. India played some of their first games barefoot, famously at the 1948 London Olympics.
As with many of their Asian neighbors, football in the country is less popular than cricket. A lack of footballing success has attributed to this situation. So has the skill of the national cricket team.
FIFA invited India to take part in the 1950 world cup after the rest of Asia withdrew. However, the team could not afford to travel to Brazil, and demanded to play barefoot, so did not enter the tournament. They did not enter the competition again until 1986. India are yet to progress beyond qualification.
There is some speculation that India valued the 1952 Olympics over the world cup at the time, a competition that allowed barefoot play. This soon changed after they lost their match against Yugoslavia 10-1. The team was required to wear boots for all subsequent matches.