Australia are also among the favourites to lift the Asian Cup while India, appearing in the tournament for the first time in 27 years, are just hoping to escape the kind of beating Australia have just suffered in the Ashes series against England.
Everyone involved in the India squad, from coach Bob Houghton downwards, however, knows that some decent performances against three of Asia's top sides, Australia, South Korea and Bahrain in their Group C matches, could have a big impact on football in the sub-continent.
For well-documented historical, cultural, social and organisational reasons going back to the beginning of organised sport in India, football has never been the country's top sport, giving way to hockey and cricket.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said again this week that India, with a population of over one billion, remains the last great frontier for football to conquer.
"If we have to identify new territories where football could be better, defintely it is the sub-continent," he told journalists at the Asian Cup.
"There are 1.2 billion people in India and this is a double market, not only for football but for the economy. India is a real power."
WORLD CUP
Although there are whispers that FIFA would welcome a World Cup in India some time in the next 20 or 30 years, the far more immediate ambition is to end decades of under-achievement, something that coach Houghton knows won't happen overnight.
The much-travelled Englishman has been in charge of the side for over four years and has seen some improvement such as winning the Asian Challenge Cup in 2008 which secured India's place at these finals for the first time since 1984.
He knows some of the reasons for India's failure to make an impact but remains optimistic things can change for the better.
"Those who aren't Indian are probably wondering how a country of over a billion people has only got 90 eligible boys playing in its national league every week and that is a question I have been asking for four and a half years and it's not easy to get it resolved.
"We hope we can do something about it in the near future. We have a new president and he seems quite keen to build some stadia, and change the league, make it more competitive and make sure there are some development programmes.
"I coached Uzbekistan before I came here and watched Uzbekistan play Qatar the other night. Uzbekistan is a small country but there are three huge differences between them and India.
"There is no football infrastructure in India, that's why we spent a lot of the time outside India trying to prepare for this tournament. There are no training grounds, there are no match facilities, there's some good players, but there is no coaching educational programmes.
"So if you haven't got the facilities, the devlopment programmes or the coaches then you have a long way to go.
"Overall there is a lot to be done, but we hope that India's appearance here on the big stage will lift the profile."
