India’s big footballing blow as Ronaldo and Messi skip journey in what is the latest blow for nation’s football fans.
Ronaldo and Messi missed trips add to India’s latest blow for nation’s football fans.
An Indian astrologer forecast in September 1977 that Pelé would become unwell in Kolkata and be unable to play for Santos versus Mohun Bagan in an exhibition. In the end, 60,000 spectators were thrilled to see the Brazilian play, but nearly 50 years later, there may have been even more anticipation because Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were scheduled to visit the subcontinent in just one month. But any doomsayer would be right this time. Messi won’t arrive in November, and Ronaldo didn’t in October.
Without getting into that argument, the fact that Ronaldo was supposed to play in a competitive match—by far the biggest star to ever appear in a real game on Indian soil—makes his absence much more sad. Al-Nassr and FC Goa were drawn for the AFC Champions League Two in August, and the hotel for the visitors secured the presidential suite for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner for the match on October 22.
“To host Al-Nassr isn’t just about a match – it’s arguably the biggest game in Indian club football history,” the Goa CEO, Ravi Puskur, told the Guardian in August. “It’s the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to growing the game in Goa. Our fans, our players, and everyone involved with the club get to experience something extraordinary, something that will be remembered for generations.”
During the pre-match conference, Goa’s coach, Manolo Márquez, noted that there were often one or two media. Nearly 100 applications from different mediums were submitted this time. The demand for tickets was also very high. In what was called a “craze for complimentary passes,” about 11,000 had been sold, with thousands more going.
The Times of India said that the stadium’s VIP area was “overcrowded with relatives and friends of ‘people in power’ forcing their way and occupying seats, without tickets” on game day. Ultimately, they witnessed Goa perform admirably before falling short 2-1 against a squad that included André Félix and Sadio Mané.
What might have occurred if Ronaldo had travelled to India? Given that the 40-year-old has not yet participated in any of the three group stage matches in Asia, perhaps it was always doubtful. Instead, the former Real Madrid player is concentrating on the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Nassr has won their first six games and appears to have a chance to win their first championship since 2019.
Two days later, it was revealed that Messi will not play in the nation for the first time since 2011, which caused even more heartache. A friendly match between Australia and Argentina was tentatively scheduled for November 17 in the southern state of Kerala. The local government of the football-loving state and its commercial partner had been working for months to finalise the match, but Fifa’s approval was still pending. Last Friday, a statement from the Argentinian FA made it clear that the world champions were not travelling to India.
All of this makes the current state of football on the subcontinent much more challenging. Due to contractual and legal disputes, clubs are still unsure about the start date of the 2025–26 Indian Super League season, which was supposed to begin in September. The men’s national team, who competed in the Asian Cups in 2019 and 2023, is eliminated from consideration for 2027 with losses to Singapore and Hong Kong, whose combined population of 13 million is less than 1% of India’s.
You don’t have to be an astrologer to realise that Indian football isn’t doing well right now. A few alternative headlines would have been nice, but Ronaldo and Messi wouldn’t have changed that.