India head coach Khalid Jamil on Friday announced a 23-man squad for the upcoming 2-match friendlies with New Zealand in the November FIFA International Match Window.
The Blue Tigers will face the All Whites on November 12 and November 15 in Auckland and Christchurch, respectively. A major change in the squad was the omission of veteran goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Bijoy Varghese, Muhammad Suhail and Liston Colaco, who are currently part of the ongoing SAFF Championship 2026 squad, have been named in the team, so they will not continue in the tournament in Dhaka and will instead link up with Jamil’s squad heading to New Zealand.
“The New Zealand-bound Blue Tigers’ squad will assemble in Bengaluru on Saturday, November 7, and will have a training session on Sunday before departing for Auckland later in the night,” the All India Football Federation said in a release.
“New Zealand are also a World Cup-playing nation and a strong opponent, and these two matches will be a good test for us away from home. We want to prepare well, play with discipline and use this opportunity to improve as a team,” Khalid said.
The matches against New Zealand will be the first time the Indian senior team takes to the field since their historic friendlies against Panama, Brazil and Uruguay in the September-October international window. While India etched out a respectable 1-1 draw vs Panama in Bengaluru, they were routed 4-0 and 6-1 against 5-time world champions Brazil and 2-time world champions Uruguay, respectively, in Kolkata.
New Zealand is also a relatively strong team, having played the 2026 World Cup and is currently ranked 88th in the world, while India come in at 138th.
India’s 23-player squad for FIFA men’s international friendlies:
Goalkeepers: Hrithik Tiwari, Som Kumar, Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Akash Mishra, Bijoy Varghese, Jay Gupta, Mehtab Singh, Pramveer, Ricky Meetei Haobam, Roshan Singh Naorem.
Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Ashique Kuruniyan, Jithin MS, Lalremtluanga Fanai, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Tomba Singh Haobam.
Forwards: David Lalhlansanga, Edmund Lalrindika, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Muhammad Suhail, Ryan Williams.