Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, India’s goalkeeper, was appointed as the captain of the Indian football team following Sunil Chhetri’s retirement, for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Qatar on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), head coach Igor Stimac announced a 23-player squad for an upcoming match. Except for Sunil Chhetri, who retired after the last game against Kuwait on Thursday, defenders Amey Ranawade, Lalchungnunga, and Subhasish Bose did not make the trip to Qatar. Bose was granted release due to personal reasons as per his request.
About Ranawade and Lalchungnunga, Stimac said as quoted by AIFF, “I was happy to have both of them with us. We worked on various aspects of their game for the future. We had a nice talk before we released them, and they know which parts of their game they need to grow for the upcoming season. I hope both of them will use the time ahead to improve and come back stronger.”
Stimac easily chose Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for Tuesday’s match as captain, given his 72 caps and status as the most experienced player in the team after Chhetri left.
Qatar, India’s upcoming rivals, have secured their spot in the third round as group leaders. They have selected a predominantly young squad, with 21 out of 29 players aged below 24. Despite dominating the game against Afghanistan in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, the two-time Asian champions were unable to score against Afghanistan’s strong defense, resulting in a goalless draw.
“We have watched the Afghanistan versus Qatar game and will work on the attacking transition in the next two days, with a hope to start scoring goals from the chances we create,” said Stimac.
The Indian senior men’s team arrived in Doha late on Saturday evening for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 game against Qatar, scheduled to take place at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday.