3 min learnUp to date: Jun 16, 2026 12:11 PM IST
Sarpreet Singh starred for New Zealand of their thrilling 2-2 draw towards Iran of their first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the Los Angeles Stadium, thus becoming a member of the record of Indian-origin gamers on the event this yr, the others being Qatar’s Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, DR Congo’s Samuel Moutoussamy and Australia’s Nishan Velupillay.
Sarpreet had a serious position to play in New Zealand’s first objective, with Elijah Simply exchanging passes with him and captain Chris Wooden earlier than placing the ball into the again of the web. He was taken off within the 92nd minute of the match, being changed by Jesse Randall.
Who’s Sarpreet Singh?
Born in Auckland, New Zealand on February 20, 1999, Sarpreet at the moment performs for Wellington Phoenix, on mortgage from Serbian membership TSC. Sarpreet’s dad and mom hail from Jalandhar, Punjab, and ran a grocery retailer in Auckland. The 27-year-old performed for Onehunga Sports activities in his youth earlier than signing for Wellington Phoenix in 2015.
He performed with the A-League group until 2019, when he was noticed by scouts for Bayern Munich whereas enjoying for New Zealand on the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup. It was introduced in July 2019 that Sarpreet had signed a three-year take care of the German giants. 4 months later, he grew to become the primary Indian-origin participant to play within the Bundesliga, Germany’s top-tier soccer league, when he made his debut for Bayern in as an alternative to Brazilian Philippe Coutinho within the final eight minutes of their 6-1 win over Werder Bremen.
In June 2022, it was reported that Sarpreet was near signing a take care of newly promoted Bundesliga aspect Werder Bremen. Nevertheless, Werder themselves pulled out of the deal as a consequence of a major case of osteitis pubis that Sarpreet had suffered. Sarpreet had been loaned out to FC Nurnberg for the 2020/21 season after which to SSV Jahn Regensburg in 2021/22. He was loaned out to the latter membership for the subsequent season however his return to aggressive soccer was delayed that yr as a consequence of a mistake Jahn Regensburg whereas registering the mortgage. It left him ineligible to play till January 1, 2023 when the mid-season switch window opened.
Sarpreet then spent a season at German aspect Hansa Rostock earlier than shifting to Portugal to play for Unaio de Leiria. He joined TSC final yr after which returned to Phoenix on mortgage. Sarpreet made his senior debut for New Zealand in a pleasant towards Canada on March 24, 2018. His first objective got here in India, by the way, when he scored towards Kenya on the 2018 Intercontinental Cup which was held in Mumbai. He additionally assisted each the targets that New Zealand scored towards India in that event as they beat the hosts 2-1.