US/MEXICO/CANADA: India will not be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. But Indian heritage will be. Four players of Indian origin have earned places in their respective national squads, the largest such contingent in the tournament’s history, carrying the subcontinent’s footballing connection onto the grandest stage the sport has to offer.
The four are Sarpreet Singh of New Zealand, Samuel Moutoussamy of DR Congo, Nishan Velupillay of Australia, and Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid of Qatar. Their routes to the tournament are as varied as their backgrounds, but each carries a thread that traces back to the Indian subcontinent.
Singh is the most recognisable of the quartet. Born in Auckland to Punjabi parents, the 27-year-old attacking midfielder made history in 2019 as the first player of Indian descent to appear in Germany’s Bundesliga, having progressed from Bayern Munich’s reserve side to the first team under coach Hansi Flick and earned a place in the club’s Bundesliga-winning squad of 2019-20. He has since played in Portugal and Serbia before returning to Wellington Phoenix on loan. Despite an injury setback earlier this season, he recovered in time to secure his World Cup place. Singh has 24 senior caps and has featured in two FIFA Under-20 World Cups. He previously crossed paths with Indian football at the 2018 Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai, where he scored against Kenya.
Moutoussamy, 29, plays for Greek club Atromitos and has been a regular in the DR Congo setup since his international debut in 2019. Born in France, his background spans multiple cultures: a Congolese mother and an Indo-Guadeloupean father whose roots trace to Tamil-speaking communities that migrated to the Caribbean during the colonial era. Before Greece, he spent several seasons with FC Nantes and had a stint in Turkey.
Velupillay is a fresh face on this stage. The Melbourne-born winger, who represents Melbourne Victory in the A-League, has an Anglo-Indian mother and a Malaysian father of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. He announced himself internationally by scoring on his Australia debut during the 2026 World Cup qualification campaign in 2024 and has since become a regular in the Socceroos squad.
The youngest of the four is Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, Qatar’s winger, who was born in Doha to parents from Kerala’s Kannur district. He came through Qatar’s famed Aspire Academy system and became the first player of Indian origin to feature in the Qatar Stars League. Currently with Al Duhail, he made his senior international debut during the Asian qualifiers and was part of the Qatar squad for the controversial qualifier against India in Doha in June 2024, though he remained on the bench.
There is also a near-miss worth noting. Qatar defender Niall Mason, born in England to an Indian mother and an American father, was included in Qatar’s preliminary selection but omitted from the final 26-man squad. And there is one more Indian connection at the tournament: Haiti striker Duckens Nazon, who played for Kerala Blasters during the 2016 Indian Super League season, has made Haiti’s squad. The veteran forward is his country’s all-time leading scorer.
India still waits for its own World Cup moment. In the meantime, four men with roots in the subcontinent will play for it in all but name.
