Khalid Jamil has become the first Indian to be appointed as the head coach of the national football team in 13 years as he pipped Stephen Constantine and Stefan Tarkovic to get the top role on Friday. The last Indian to serve as the head coach of the national men’s team was Savio Medeira, who held the position from 2011 to 2012.
Jamil, 48, who had guided the Aizawl Football Club to a famous I-League title in 2017, has a difficult task at hand to turn around the struggling Indian team’s declining fortunes. A former international player who has represented India and currently the incharge of Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC, Jamil was selected by the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). While Constantine was a former India head coach, Tarkovic had coached the Slovakia national team. The AIFF Technical Committee, led by legendary striker IM Vijayan, had shortlisted the three candidates.
An AFC Pro License Diploma holder, Jamil will succeed Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who parted ways with the AIFF last month following India’s recent rough run.
“The AIFF ExCo has picked Khalid Jamil as the new head coach, but his tenure has not yet been decided. We will do that after discussions with him and among ourselves. We also have to discuss with him his salary,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said, adding that Jamil’s tenure would be performance-based and a long one, may be two or three years.
The AIFF president also made it clear that Jamil would be a full-time national team head coach and would not be associated with any other club. Jamil's predecessor Manolo had played a dual role during his one-year tenure, taking charge of ISL side FC Goa when there were no national team matches.
Jamil’s first assignment in his new role will be the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup, which will be held in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from August 29.
A trailblazer in Indian football
The biggest achievement of his more than a decade-long managerial career was the 2016-17 I-League title for Aizawl FC, who upstaged big-spending giants like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC.
The north-eastern club had an annual budget of just around Rs 2 crore. The unassuming Mumbaikar also guided two relatively understated sides to the ISL play-offs, NorthEast United in 2020-21 and Jamshedpur FC, in 2024-25.
Vijayan, Shabir Ali were for Indian coach
Jamil was considered the frontrunner even before his appointment and he got the support from legends like Vijayan and Shabir Ali, Technical Committee chairperson and vice-chairperson, respectively, and former India coach Amrando Colaco, who is currently Chaubey’s advisor. The AIFF said Vijayan was in favour of an Indian coach, saying the country had a much higher FIFA ranking when the likes of Sukhwinder Singh and Syed Nayeemuddin were head coaches.
“Vijayan strongly recommended Khalid Jamil as he has already been conferred with the AIFF’s Men’s Coach of the Year Award on two occasions. The house felt that since India are set to participate in the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 later this month, followed by back-to-back AFC Asian Cup Final Round Qualifier matches against Singapore in October, Jamil would be a better option since he has been working with Indian players on a regular basis,” the AIFF said in a release.
The AIFF had received 170 applications for the post, which included big names like former Liverpool stars Robbie Fowler and Harry Kewell.
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