In a notable moment for football fans in Kerala, 19-year-old Tahsin Jamshid has been named in Qatar’s 34-member preliminary squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The squad, announced by head coach Julen Lopetegui, is preparing for the tournament, which runs across the USA, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. A winger who turns 20 next month, Tahsin is from Valapattanam in Kannur and is the son of Jamshid, a former Calicut University footballer from Thalassery, and Shaima.
From Kannur to the Qatar Stars League
Tahsin’s rise in Middle Eastern football has been quick. He joined Qatar’s Under-16 side in 2021 and, in March 2024, became the first player of Indian origin to feature in the Qatar Stars League when he debuted for top-tier club Al Duhail. A product of the well-known Aspire Academy, he scored his first goal against Lebanon in AFC qualifying and was part of Lopetegui’s squad during World Cup qualifiers last year, though he stayed on the bench.
Qatar’s World Cup campaign
Qatar go into the tournament as back-to-back Asian Cup champions (2019 and 2024), mixing experienced names with younger players like Tahsin. They have been drawn against Switzerland (June 13, San Francisco), Canada (June 18, Vancouver) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 24, Seattle). The team begins training on May 15 and will play friendlies against the Republic of Ireland on May 28 and El Salvador on June 6, with the final 23-to-26-member squad to be confirmed before June 2.
The preliminary list also includes veteran striker Sebastian Soria, captain Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, 2022 World Cup scorer Mohammed Muntari and goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham. If Tahsin makes the final cut, he will become the first Malayali to be part of a FIFA World Cup squad.
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