Sarpreet Singh played all 90 minutes of New Zealand’s 2-2 draw against Iran on June 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. In doing so, he became the first Sikh footballer to appear in a men’s FIFA World Cup. That sentence alone carries more weight than any scoreline.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder, currently with Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, has been vocal about what the moment means beyond his own career. Singh wants to “pave the way” for more players of Indian and Sikh heritage in professional football, a sport where South Asian representation at the elite level remains vanishingly rare.
A milestone decades in the making
Football is the world’s most popular sport. South Asia is home to roughly a quarter of the world’s population. And yet, no South Asian nation qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Not India, not Pakistan, not Bangladesh. None of them.
That makes Singh’s achievement even more striking. Born on February 20, 1999, in Auckland, New Zealand, he traces his roots back to Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He’s representing New Zealand, not India, but the cultural significance crosses national borders entirely.
