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Singh is King at FIFA World Cup 2026
It will witness the participation of a Sikh player, perhaps the first in history. In addition to a Sikh player, the FIFA World Cup 2026 is witnessing a massive participation of Sikhs, both men and women.
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Prabhjot Paul Singh - Fri, 12, Jun 2026
- 10:54 EDT
- 60
Newzealand footballer Sarpreet Singh / instagram/sarpreet.singh11
They say no world sporting event is complete without a Singh. It is true. The elite FIFA sports event—the World Cup—with a record 48 nations competing in a 104-match football marathon, is without the world’s fastest-growing economy, India.
Jointly hosted by the USA, Mexico, and Canada, it has already come to be known as the most expensive FIFA World Cup ever, with controversies raging over the ticket prices. The FIFA chief has tried to justify higher pricing.
The tournament has assumed yet another distinction. It will witness the participation of a Sikh player, perhaps the first in history. In addition to a Sikh player, the FIFA World Cup 2026 is witnessing a massive participation of Sikhs, both men and women.
Go to any venue of the mega event in Canada or the USA, and you will be greeted by young Sikhs volunteering for various roles, including security, accreditation, transport, logistics, and even IT. Many of them are students in North America, some are on work permits, and the rest are second- and third-generation North Americans—Canadians or Americans.
Sikh volunteers apart, the focus will be on Sarpreet Singh, the first-ever Sikh World Cupper.
Interestingly, he will not be representing the country his parents came from. Rather, he will be donning the colors of the country where he was born in 1999, New Zealand.
He reminds those interested in following the Indian diaspora in sports that in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, India failed for the first time since 1928 to qualify for the Olympic Hockey Tournament; a group of Sikh players were represented in the tournament. They played for Canada. One of them, Bindi Kular, came from the famous hockey nursery of Sansarpur.
Incidentally, Sarpreet Singh’s parents also came from the same sports belt of Punjab as that of Bindi Kular.
Sarpreet Singh, whose first international appearances for New Zealand came at the under-17 level when he was named to the 20-man Kiwi squad for the 2015 OFC U-17 Championship.
Since then, he has never looked back and has made football his career.
He competed for New Zealand at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they unfortunately fell to the USA in the pre-quarterfinal round. His next appearance for New Zealand was in the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup, where again the Kiwis could not cross the American hurdle, this time losing to Colombia in the round of 16 in a penalty shootout after extra time could not help resolve the 1-1 deadlock.
Singh earned his first senior national team call-up for a friendly match against Canada on March 24, 2018, in Murcia, as he came in as a substitute in the second half of a 1–0 loss. Sarpreet scored his first goal for New Zealand on June 2, 2018, against Kenya in the 2018 Intercontinental Cup. Interestingly, in the same tournament, he provided both assists as his team defeated India 2–1.
Now Singh has been named in New Zealand's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first player of Indian Punjabi heritage to appear at a FIFA World Cup since Vikash Dhorasoo represented France in 2006.
Drawn with Iran, Egypt, and Belgium in Group G, New Zealand plays its first game on June 15 against Iran.
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