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London calling! The Indian national football team has touched down in England for the 2026 Unity Cup featuring heavyweight nations such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Jamaica, with the latter playing the Indian tigers in their first game on May 27 at Charlton Athletic’s The Valley in London.
India’s momentous 24 year long wait to return to England was hit by a bombshell announcement just prior to their departure for the tournament, with Mohun Bagan Super Giants recalling seven of their players from the international camp, despite the conclusion of the Indian Super League season.
The All India Football Federation has stressed that it notified the ISL clubs of the national teams plans to travel for the Unity Cup on April 10, but just two days before the flight out from Bengaluru, Mohun Bagan did not permit seven of their players to join the Indian camp, including regulars such as Liston Colaco and Anirudh Thapa, bringing the traveling squad down to just 17 members.
“Whatever player is available to play, we will make them play,” said Indian head coach, Khalid Jamil in a pre-tournament press conference on May 25.
“It doesn’t matter if we have more Mohun Bagan players or not, who’s doing good we will make them play.”
Earlier this week, FIFA confirmed that the Unity Cup has been classified as a ‘Tier-1’ event under the global body’s umbrella, meaning the results at the competition will affect the FIFA rankings of the nations involved. For 136th ranked India, this tournament is a brilliant opportunity to recover their rank. The difference in rank between the nations is staggering and a positive result can be a huge boost to India.
Defending champions Nigeria are the highest ranked team at 26th, and while fielding a relatively weaker squad with superstars Victor Osihmen, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina, to name a few being absent from the Unity Cup, the mentality is just as strong as ever for the African giants.
“We are not intimidated by anyone,” said Nigeria’s stand-in captain, Francis Uzoho in the pre-tournament press conference about their first opponents, Zimbabwe.
“We will try to play our game, like the coach has said, with the new boys in this past two days and trying to understand the tactics and hopefully tomorrow we will see how the game goes. But being intimidated, it’s not possible.”
Nigeria takes on Zimbabwe in the 2026 Unity Cup opener on May 26, at 19:30 BST (14:30 EST).
India’s opponent Jamaica are the second highest ranked side in the competition at 71st, but just as Nigeria, have rested a majority of their players and are fielding a squad with an average age of just 21.
“Yeah, we’re confident,” said Jamaican head coach Rudolph Spied at the press conference about his inexperienced squad.
“We have a lot of young talented players which you can choose from. A lot of the players have gone on holiday after a long season so we thought a good mixture would be good.”
Jamaica were one match away from securing a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, losing the inter-confederation playoff to DR Congo 1-0 in extra time. A gutting wrenching result, that now makes the Unity Cup for Jamaica the perfect opportunity to create a fresh start.
“What it will do is widen the selection process,” said Spied looking further ahead for his Jamaican side.
“We have the (CONCACAF) Nations League coming up in September, so this is a good chance for the younger players to showcase what they can do.”
Few months ago, India missed out on qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup after qualifying for the previous two editions, meaning India can also start over entering the next international qualification cycles. However, coach Jamil offered little words for what’ s in store, primarily keeping his focus on the Unity Cup in front of him.
“Yes, we have chosen the players that have had a good performance in the league,” said Jamil about his current team.
“So according to that, we’ll build a team. But who has done well, we have chosen.”
India plays Jamaica on May 27 at 19:30 BST (14:30 EST).
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