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Stimac gets new deal till June 2026 with provision to continue till 2028
In charge since 2019, Croat could be longest serving India head coach
Igor Stimac and his support staff got an extension that will keep them in charge of the senior and the under-23 men’s national football teams till June 2026. Should Stimac make the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which starts in November 2024, the contract will be automatically renewed till 2028.
It will make the former Croatia international the longest serving coach of the senior team in the history of independent India. It also means he will not be judged on the World Cup qualifiers in November and the Asian Cup in January.
“We needed to ensure that the process initiated remains stable,” said Shaji Prabhakaran, the secretary-general of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) at a virtual media conference. “I appreciate the trust you have shown in me and my staff and appreciate the thousands of fans who recognised our work. They are the main reason why we are here,” said Stimac, sat next to Prabhakaran.
India assistant coach Mahesh Gawali was also present. Gawali, a former international defender, will be given additional charge of the India under-23 men’s team, said Prabhakaran.
Thursday’s announcement is a significant shift from September 2022 when AIFF said that Stimac would get an extension for one competition if India made the quarter-finals of the 2024 Asian Cup, a tournament where they had finished at the bottom of four-team groups in 2011 and 2019.
Since then, Stimac, 56, led India to three tournament titles which included victories against Kuwait and Lebanon. “And the performance against Iraq (in the King’s Cup) has given us hope,” said Prabhakaran.
Against former Asian champions Iraq, then ranked 70th and 29 slots above India, in the King’s Cup last month, Stimac’s team led twice before losing 4-5 in the tie-breaker because Brandon Fernandes’ penalty grazed the upright and went out.
Stimac said that after “quite a long discussion over three-four days” with Prabhakaran, he got continuity for his staff “who will continue on their existing salaries till the Asian Cup.”
The extension, Stimac’s third, factors in prioritising the national team. Stimac said he understood that little can change “until the next ISL season, but for me the promise from responsible people in AIFF was good enough.” The coach is right in demanding more time for the national team, said Prabhakaran.
A former Croatia international and national team head coach, Stimac said games “during ISL could hurt us a lot” and that it was important that India did not “lose the race” for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers in November and March 2024 because of inadequate preparation.
India open the 2026 qualifying cycle away to Kuwait on November 16 and host Asian champions Qatar in Bhubaneswar on November 21. In March, India will play the winners of the double-leg first round qualifier between Afghanistan and Mongolia, scheduled on October 12 and 17, home and away. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the third round of the qualifiers of the 48-team World Cup where Asia have been allotted 8.5 berths.
The World Cup finals is a dream, said Stimac. “India has not been competitive enough so far and we need to take responsibility together to change that. We have shown we can play against higher ranked teams and that we can compete against teams from Arab countries which are among the top teams in Asia.”
No India coach has stayed in charge for seven successive years which Stimac, who joined in 2019, now could. Bob Houghton was in charge for six, form 2006 to 2011. Asked to comment on that, Stimac told HT: “It would be an honour to be India’s longest serving coach but I also want to be the most successful coach.”
His first assignment after the new deal is the Merdeka Tournament next week featuring India, Malaysia, Palestine and Tajikistan. The squad will leave for Kuala Lumpur on October 9. Twice runners-up in 17 appearances, India open against Malaysia on October 13 and play either Palestine or Tajikistan on October 17.
