It is also eligible to participate in the SAFF U-20 Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup held every two years.

[8] For the first four seasons of AFC U-19 Championship, from 1959 to 1962 the Indian team did not enter into the tournament though there was no qualification round.

First in group stage India defeat both Laos and Burma by 1−0 and a draw against Hong Kong by 2−2.

[16][17][18] In 1975 and 1976 edition, India didn't do much well but at 1977 AFC Youth Championship they reached the quarter final but the opponent was Iran, the defending Champion who defeated India by 3−0, thus failed to qualify for the first FIFA World Youth Championship in 1977 which later came to be known as FIFA U-20 World Cup and also failed to qualify at the 1979 edition.

In the 2015 inaugural edition, India became runners-up facing a defeat from Nepal through a penalty shoot out.

[23] Though India lost two consecutive matches against Spanish club Murcia then against Mauritania, they managed a 0–0 draw[24] against a stronger Latin American side of Venezuela, but on the final group match on 5 August 2018, the Indian side written a piece of history when they defeated the most successful U-20 Worldcup winning nation Argentina.

[35] In the friendlies against Serbia India saw defeat in both the matches, first by 2−0[36] and second by 3−1 where Rahim Ali managed to find the net once.

[38] Team India also won the inaugural OFC Youth Development Tournament in 2019, after beating Tahiti 2–0.

[39] India defended their SAFF title in 2022 by defeating Bangladesh again in the final, this time by an even bigger score of 5–2.

[41][42] India won their third title in a row by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the SAFF championship in 2023 by a margin of 3–0.