Exclusive/ ‘India Will Definitely Qualify For FIFA WC’: Mehtab Singh Lays Road Map For Future Of National Team

After a disappointing FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, the Indian National Team has gone through some big changes in 2024 with the retirement of captain and legend Sunil Chhetri , and the departure of head coach Igor Stimac.

Star Indian footballer and defender Mehtab Singh in a recent interview with Republic World, reflected on a disappointing year for the National Team and asked for patience from the fans as he laid out the road map of success for India. 

Adapting to changes in the National Team 

The fallout of a disappointing FIFA World Cup qualifiers campaign saw the departure of Indian National Team coach Igor Stimac and the arrival of FC Goa manager Manolo Marquez. The Indian Football team is going through seismic changes and with the retirement of Sunil Chhetri the national team is in search for its next reliable goal scorer. 

Mehtab Singh in the interview touched upon these changes and said that adapting to these changes takes time. 

“There are a lot of changes in the National Team, the coach has also changed. Things will take time to settle down. It's about taking one game at a time, we can't change it all in one day. We would have to stay patient with the process. We'll slowly settle into the new coach's playing style,” Mehtab Singh told Republic World. 

 “Every player takes time to adapt to changes. Whenever we play for the National Team, we only have one goal, to improve India's ranking. To do well in qualifiers, and one day qualify for the World Cup. That's our mindset” - Mehtab Singh

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‘We will qualify for World Cup’ - Mehtab Singh 

Given the expansion in FIFA World Cup from 2026 and the new qualifying format, this was eyed as the best chance for the Indian Football Team to finally qualify for the World Cup. 

But when India failed in their objective, the fans were left disappointed with the team's efforts. Given all the controversy and question marks surrounding Indian Football, Mehtab Singh has urged fans to be patient and stay positive.  

“I only have one message for the fans. Everything takes time. We can't change the past, what's happened has happened. We have to look forward now, we have to stay positive and work on how we can do things better going forward. We request fans to support us as much as they can. As things are changing, team will also change. If more people turn up and support, the players will also feel that if fans our turning up we want to make them happy," said Mehtab Singh. 

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Mehtab Singh further vowed that India will be in a very good position going forward and will definitely qualify for World Cup. 

"We want to show what India is capable of. We are sure that we'll be in a very good position very soon and one day Indian team will definitely qualify for World Cup,” Mehtab Singh told Republic World.