Ryan Williams scores as India add Panama to list of goals against FIFA top‑50 nations
Ryan Williams gave India the lead against 44th‑ranked Panama in Bengaluru on September 25th, 2026, a goal the article lists among India’s strikes against teams currently inside FIFA’s top 50.
The piece inventories every goal scored by India’s senior men’s team against the present top‑50 nations, reaching back to matches played before independence and through the country’s mid‑20th century high points. It notes India’s 1938 tour of Australia produced 16 goals across five matches played barefoot, and highlights Neville D’Souza’s hat‑trick at the 1956 Melbourne Cricket Ground under the tutelage of the legendary "Rahim Saab" and a 7-1 friendly win at the Sydney Sports Ground the same year in which P.K. Banerjee, Neville D’Souza and Jagannath Krishnaswamy scored braces.
India’s encounters with France feature twice at the Olympics: Sarangapani Raman scored in a 1-2 defeat at the 1948 London Olympics, a match in which India missed two penalties in the first half and Rene Persillon scored in the 89th minute to send France to the quarterfinals. The teams met again at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Italy, where P.K. Banerjee scored India’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw as India finished bottom of a group that included Hungary and Peru.
The article records India’s goals against Iran as coming before the 1970s, with Chuni Goswami and Yousuf Khan each credited with two goals, and adds that India have failed to score against Iran in their last six matches since the 1966 Asian Games. It also documents early victories over Japan: Moinuddin and Jose D’Sa scored in a 3-2 win at the 1954 Asian Games in the Philippines, P.K. Banerjee and Tulsidas Balaraman found the net in the 1962 Asian Games, and Amar Bahadur Gurung’s strike secured the bronze in the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok.
On matches with Japan and South Korea in more recent history, the article states India played Japan four times in the 21st century, conceding 20 goals and failing to score, and identifies P.K. Banerjee as India’s top scorer against South Korea with two goals. It records Sunil Chhetri as India’s last goalscorer against South Korea—scoring a penalty in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar—and recounts India’s 1962 Asian Games run in which, after losing the opener to South Korea, Rahim Saab’s team beat Japan and Thailand to reach the semifinals, defeated South Vietnam 3-2, and then won the gold medal match against South Korea with goals from P.K. Banerjee and Jarnail Singh.
The article lists individual goals against other major teams: Tulsidas Balaraman scored in a 1-2 defeat to Hungary at the 1960 Olympics; C.V. Pappachan scored in a 1-2 defeat in Trivandrum during the 1991 Nehru Cup; Biswajit Bhattacharya scored in the 42nd minute against Poland at Eden Gardens in January 1984 in front of 90,000 spectators as India lost by a goal and Poland went on to win the Cup, which also featured Argentina and China; and Manas Bhattacharya scored in the 35th minute of a 3-1 Nehru Cup defeat in 1982 at Eden Gardens.
Further entries include I.M. Vijayan, Sathyan and Aqeel Ansari scoring across two matches in the 1993 Nehru Cup, and India’s victory over Cameroon in the 2012 Nehru Cup final in Delhi—Cameroon were then ranked 58th—when Sunil Chhetri and Gouramangi Singh scored to force penalties and India won 5-4 after Thierry Makon Nloga missed the final penalty and Clifford Miranda converted; the article notes that edition was the last time the tournament was organised by the AIFF.
The most recent addition cited is Panama, one of the 2026 World Cup teams, where Ryan Williams’ goal in Bengaluru on September 25th, 2026 was set up by Akash Mishra’s long pass over the Panama backline; the article includes the social post reading "RYAN DALE WILLIAMS!!!! 🔥 https://t.co/cCHBlKTdgG" and states Williams was "only recently... cleared to represent the nation" and that the side is now led by Indian coach Khalid Jamil. India’s next confirmed fixtures listed are a match against Brazil on 3rd October, 2026 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata and a meeting with Uruguay in the same city on October 6th, 2026.