India, Nov. 20 -- Curacao, less populous than Delhi, has qualified for the World Cup. With a land mass of just 444 square kilometres, it is the smallest nation ever to do so in the event's history. Earlier, Cape Verde - the third-smallest ever - had done so too. Sports has a way of humbling the big and the great, and it is nowhere more evident than in football, which has proven to be a tough game for countries such as India. Earlier this week, India, ranked 142nd in the Fifa rankings, lost to Bangladesh, ranked 180th, in an Asia Cup match.

While it is tempting to jump into comparisons of country size and population, one needs to understand that making the World Cup isn't just about footballing intelligence. Rather, it is about policy as ...