India in FIFA World Cup 2026: India is now the biggest nation to not qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 when it comes to population. The ongoing World Cup in North America has seen nations like Curacao and Cape Verde put up miraculous performances, with the latter becoming the smallest nation in the history of the tournament to make it to the knockout phase. At the same time, questions are being raised over the fact that India, despite boasting a population of more than 1.5 billion, has not made it to the coveted tournament even once. The Indian national football team captain, Sandesh Jhingan, explained the reasons behind India’s absence from FIFA World Cups.
No India in FIFA World Cup 2026
India’s ongoing exclusion from the World Cup, even though it was expanded to 48 teams, has sparked extensive debate and questioning on social media. Due to the expansion of the tournament, teams such as Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde, and Curacao have gottent their first taste of the tournament in North America. Cape Verde, in their debut edition, surprised everyone as they made it to the Round of 32 despite being put in a group with former World Cup winners, Spain and Uruguay.
Sandesh Jhingan blames lack of structure behind India’s absence from FIFA World Cup
Indian national football team captain, Sandesh Jhingan, talked about the reasons behind India not making it to the FIFA World Cup. The defender who plays for FC Goa in the Indian Super League talked about not having a stable league being a huge roadblock in Indian football’s journey.
“So the need of the hour right now, do we have a stable league? How many games we played last year? For how many months our are players sitting at home? These are the real questions that needs to be asked. I think right now the most important thing for us as a nation is to have a stable, structured domestic football for boys, girls, men, women at all age groups and have a plan for the next five years so we know this is what’s going to happen for the next five years,” the defender said.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu backs Jhingan’s observation
Indian goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, recently took to Instagram where he backed Sandesh Jhingan’s statements. The 34-year-old veteran goalkeeper talked about how the goal for the Indian national football team should be to be a regular at the Asian Cup and then make it to the knockout stages of the same event even more frequently.
“Absolutely loving the conversation so many people are having about why we are not at the WC (World Cup). People asking questions and accountability is necessary. As a player, I can tell you. We are not at the WC because we are not at the Asian Cup. To reach the WC, we have to be regulars in the Asian Cup and then be regulars at the knockout stages of the same. It’s a step-by-step process. So the real question is, why did we not reach the Asian Cup?” he wrote on an Instagram story.
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.
