Who will captain India Football Team after Sunil Chhetri's Retirement? Igor Stimac reveals name

Add as a preferred source on Google

The India football team arrived in Doha late on Saturday night for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Preliminary Joint Qualifiers against Qatar. The game will be held at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday (June 11).

India head coach Igor Stimac announced a 23-member squad for the fixture, which is devoid of Sunil Chhetri as the India legend retired from international football after the Qatar match.

This is the first time in years an Indian team is playing without Sunil Chhetri. After the retirement of Chhetri, the obvious void of the captain's armband needs to be filled. And Stimac has handed it to Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. With 71 caps, the 32-year-old is now the most experienced player in the national team. AIFF released a statement saying that Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will now take over as the captain of the Blue Tigers.

"Gurpreet was one of our captains alongside Sunil and Sandesh (Jhingan) for the past five years, so naturally he is the one to take responsibility at this moment," said Stimac to AIFF.

India's next opponents, Qatar, have already qualified for the third round as group-toppers. Their largely youthful squad features 21 out of 29 players below the age of 24. India will have to try and make the most of it and if they can win the match, they will likely qualify for the third round.

India was held to a goalless draw in the last match against Kuwait in Kolkata. Despite the draw, the Blue Tigers sit 2nd in the points table and three points in Doha will ensure their progression to the next round.