Manolo Marquez’s tenure as head coach of the Indian football team ends

Manolo Marquez will be stepping down from his role as head coach of the Indian men’s national football team after the Spaniard and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) mutually decided to part ways.

The decision was formalised during an AIFF Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The decision to part ways comes after India’s 1-0 defeat to lower-ranked Hong Kong China on June 10 in their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers 2027 campaign. They played out a 0-0 draw against Bangladesh in the opening match of their qualification campaign.

“He did not resign. After discussions, it was mutually agreed that the AIFF and Manolo Marquez cannot continue as India (men) coach. Accordingly, he was let go,” M. Satyanarayanan, the acting general secretary of the AIFF, told Sportstar.

Manolo Marquez was appointed as the head coach of the Indian team in June last year. Under his tutelage, the Blue Tigers picked up just one win in eight matches - a 3-0 victory over the Maldives in a friendly in March.

India’s last competitive win in international football came against Kuwait under former head coach Igor Stimac, whom Marquez had replaced.

The Indian team has also failed to score a goal in their last three matches under Manolo Marquez.

Manolo Marquez took over the top job in Indian football after guiding Hyderabad FC to the Indian Super League (ISL) title in the 2021-22. He also won the Super Cup trophy with FC Goa earlier this year.

Last year, he juggled dual responsibilities, serving as head coach of FC Goa during the 2024-25 season while continuing his role as head coach of the Indian national team.

The Indian football team is currently ranked 127th in the FIFA Men’s World Rankings, having last broken into the top 100 in July 2023 when they reached the 99th position.

The Blue Tigers’ next competitive outing is scheduled to take place in October when they face Singapore in their third match of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers.

India are currently rooted to the bottom of Group B in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers with one point from two games.

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