It is no surprise that India is not at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. If one would like to jog their memory, the Indian team hasn't been at any World Cup. The qualification campaign this year ended, as it always does, in the second round- yet again disappointing the fans.
For a country of 1.4 billion that produces genuine football fanatics — particularly in Bengal, Kerala, and the Northeast — this is not a wound that heals between cycles. It just reopens every four years. And yet.
Four players of Indian heritage have taken to the field in North America this summer. They carry different passports, speak different languages, and were shaped by different football ecosystems. But somewhere in each of their stories, a thread connects them back to India.
Here's quick look at the four Indian-origin players who are playing the FIFA World Cup 2026 :
Born in Wellington to parents from Jalandhar, Singh who became the first player of Indian descent to feature in the Bundesliga and is now New Zealand's number 10 at football's biggest stage.
Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, a 19-year-old winger born in Doha to Malayali parents from Kannur, Kerala, who reportedly holds an Indian passport — making him, technically, the first Indian passport holder to play at a World Cup.
Nishan Velupillay, a Melbourne Victory winger of Tamil and Anglo-Indian heritage, who has become the first footballer of Tamil heritage to compete at a FIFA World Cup.
Samuel Moutoussamy is a 29-year-old midfielder born in Paris to a Congolese mother and an Indo-Guadeloupean father of Tamil descent, lining up for DR Congo.