The Australia winger Nishan Veluppillay became the first player of Indian-origin to feature in the FIFA World Cup after 20 years. Nishan was born to a father with Sri Lankan Tamil heritage and his mother is an Anglo-Indian. The last time that a player of Indian origin featured in the FIFA World Cup was back in 2006 when Vikash Dhorasoo played for France. Nishan was introduced into the game as a substitute in the 60th minute for the Australian side to make use of some fresh legs against Turkiye in the final half-hour of the game. Australia won the game against Turkiye by 2-0 and it was a dominant show from the Socceroos in their opening game.

Nishan Velupillay isn’t the only player of Indian origin that is a part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the Qatar team has included the Keralite, Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid. But he remained on the bench for the entire course of the game against Switzerland and he did not get a chance to be on the field. The other players of Indian descent at the 2026 FIFA World Cup are New Zealand's Sarpreet Singh and DR Congo's Samuel Moutoussamy. Both the teams are yet to play their first game of the tournament and we could see a couple more just like Nishan.

Australia's rising winger marks historic debut against Turkiye

Nishan Velupillay has risen through the ranks in Australia in no time and he has been a fine young talent for the Australian side. The young prolific winger has made 138 appearances for Melbourne Victory, scoring 25 goals along with 14 assists. His stellar campaign unfolded in the 2024-25 season, where he scored 12 goals and claimed the 'Victory Golden Boot: 2025'. That earned him a well-deserved call-up to the Socceroos. Nishan also scored on his international debut against China and now his first appearance in the FIFA World Cup, would be a testament to the kind of talent he possesses.

Velupillay’s historic debut came along with the perfect start to the tournament for Australia as they caused one of the very first upsets in this edition of the World Cup. The Socceroos played quality football right from the beginning as they scored in the 27th minute of the game, credit to Nestory Irankunda. Turkiye had most of the possession throughout the game but they weren’t able to produce the final finish in the game. Australia sat back comfortably in their half waiting for the right opportunity to pounce and they extended their lead in the 76th minute with a goal from Connor Metcalfe.

As Australia have gotten off to the right start in the World Cup with a victory against Turkey, they could very well get past the group stage with ease. We could see more from Nishan Vellupillay in the games to come and he could prove to be a vital asset for Australia in this edition of the World Cup.