Spain’s Manolo Marquez has been appointed as the coach of the Indian men’s national team, the All India Football Federation announced on Saturday.
Marquez replaces Croatian Igor Stimac who was sacked from his role last month after failing to guide India to the third round of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Marquez, who is currently the coach of Indian Super League club FC Goa and is contracted until the end of next season, will handle both responsibilities concurrently before taking over as India coach on a full-time basis.
“It's an honour for me to be the coach of India, a country I consider my second home,” Marquez said in a statement issued by AIFF. “India and its people are something I feel attached to and I feel a part of since I first came to this beautiful country. I want to do my best to bring success to the millions of fans we have.
“I am very grateful to FC Goa for allowing us the flexibility to help the national team during the coming season while I am still the club’s head coach. I'm grateful to the AIFF for this opportunity and we hope to do great things for football.”
Marquez, 55, has been coaching in India since 2020. He coached Hyderabad FC to Indian Super League championship in 2021-22 and also led them to back-to-back second-place finishes in the league in 2021-22 and 2022023.
Marquez took over as coach of FC Goa last season and led them to the play-offs before losing to eventual champions Mumbai City FC in the semi-final.
Before coaching Hyderabad, Marquez had coaching stints in Spain with Espanyol B, Las Palmas and in Croatia and Thailand.
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