The last player of Indian heritage to appear at a FIFA World Cup was Vikash Dhorasoo, who represented France in 2006. That was nearly two decades ago. On June 16, Sarpreet Singh ends that wait.
When New Zealand face Iran in California for their Group G opener, the Auckland-born midfielder will step onto the biggest stage in football carrying roots that trace directly back to Jalandhar, Punjab. His parents emigrated from India. He grew up playing cricket in the backyard and football on weekends. Now he's at a World Cup.
From Wynton Rufer's academy to the Bundesliga
Singh's path wasn't straightforward. New Zealand is rugby and cricket territory — football is very much the third sport. He joined the Wynton Rufer Soccer Academy at seven, progressed through Wellington Phoenix's youth ranks, and made his senior A-League debut as a teenager.
The breakthrough came in the 2018-19 season. His performances were sharp enough to attract Bayern Munich, who signed him in 2019. He became the first player of Indian descent to join the German club and the first New Zealander in the Bundesliga since Wynton Rufer himself. First-team minutes at Bayern were limited — that's the reality for most players outside the top fifteen in that squad — but he gathered European experience before returning to Wellington Phoenix in 2026 to rebuild fitness ahead of the tournament.
His senior international debut arrived in 2018 against Canada. His first goal came later that year at the Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai — against Kenya, in India, with his family heritage present in every way imaginable. New Zealand also beat India 2-1 at that same tournament, with Singh playing a role against the country his family came from.
The group ahead is unforgiving
New Zealand are the lowest-ranked side in Group G, which also contains Belgium, Egypt and Iran. Realistically, progression to the knockout rounds would rank among the All Whites' greatest achievements. Their odds to advance reflect exactly that.
Singh has spoken about the tournament as an opportunity rather than a burden, which is the right framing. He's 26, at his physical peak, and playing on the back of a strong domestic season. Whether New Zealand can nick a result in a brutal group is another question — but Singh arriving at this stage at all, two decades after Dhorasoo, is the story regardless of what happens in California.
