The FIFA World Cup 2026 got underway earlier this month, with as many as 48 teams participating in the global event. Along with the footballing giants, this FIFA World Cup has featured inspirational stories of Cape Verde, Curacao, Haiti, and Jordan, who have punched above their weight. Amid such performances, one question has reappeared in the Indian sporting spectrum: why couldn’t India make it to the FIFA World Cup 2026? India have never qualified for the marquee quadrennial event; in fact, they are not among the top teams in Asia either.
As fans on social media ask several questions along those lines, Indian football team first-choice goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who has also captained the side, took to his Instagram story to break it down and guide those seeking an answer.
“Absolutely loving the conversation so many people are having about why we are not at the WC. People asking questions and accountability is necessary,” he wrote.
“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 added.
Curacao became the smallest nation in both size (area of less than 450 km) and population to qualify for the elite event earlier this year from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). In contrast, India, despite a population of over a billion, has struggled to deliver good results.
Gurpreet recently shed light on the mental demands of goalkeeping, the importance of resilience, while offering an insightful perspective on one of football’s most challenging positions.
Reflecting on the pressures that come with being a goalkeeper, Gurpreet acknowledged the unique responsibility attached to the role, where a single mistake can often have significant consequences for a team.
“Being a goalkeeper comes with a different kind of pressure. If you make a mistake, it can cost your team a result, a trophy, or even a nation an important moment. Early in my career, nobody really taught me how to deal with that mental burden. It was something I had to learn through experience,” he said.
(With agency inputs)