Sarpreet Singh becomes the third Indian player to feature in the FIFA World Cup. Image Credit: AFP
FIFA World Cup 2026: Sarpreet Singh, an Indian-origin player, started for New Zealand in their FIFA World Cup 2026 first match against Iran on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood. Sarpreet became only the third player of Indian descent to feature in the FIFA World Cup. Earlier in the FIFA World Cup 2026, Indian-origin Nishan Velupillay also featured for Australia in their 2-0 win over Turkiye. He is one of four players of Indian descent to participate in the quadrennial competition in North America. For the first time since 2010 and just for the third time overall, New Zealand will compete in a World Cup.
Sarpreet’s passion for football in the first place, was nurtured while he was growing up in Auckland, where his parents, originating from Jalandhar, ran a grocer’s shop. At the age of 7 he started going to the Wynrs Wynton Rufer Soccer Academy. In 2015, he joined the Wellington Phoenix Academy. Sarpreet was a part of the New Zealand team in the U-17 Oceania Cup and the U-20 World Cup. His showing in the latter, having scored a goal that helped New Zealand to reach the round of 16, was so good that European clubs showed interest in him.
Sarpreet was the first New Zealand player to be signed by a Bundesliga team since Wynton Rufer in 2019 (Werder Bremen), as he was chosen by one of the most famous German clubs, Bayern Munich. Still, 2020 was his hardest year. Sarpreet was almost set to make his step up by joining the newly promoted Bundesliga club Werder Bremen when he was diagnosed with a severe osteitis pubis injury. He said that this was the toughest time of his life.
In the Australian A-League, he is currently a member of the Wellington Phoenix squad. His European career has been somewhat of a rollercoaster, but joining the New Zealand team in 2018, he has enjoyed a much more successful international career. He has scored three goals and assisted seven times in 28 matches for the country.
Iran and New Zealand, playing their first games in the FIFA World Cup 2026, faced off at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, USA. The two teams are showing great athleticism in the first hour of the clash. At half-time, the two teams remained level. Elijah Just opened the scoring in the seventh minute, putting the All Whites in the lead. Team Melli then responded in the 34th minute with Ramin Rezaeian scoring the first goal for Iran in the tournament. However, in the second half, Just scored once again as he was assisted by Chris Wood again to put his team in the lead. Meanwhile, Mohammad Mohebi scored the equaliser in the 65th minute.
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
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