FIFA president Gianni Infantino thanks Zee TV, praises India’s love for football ahead of World Cup final

The FIFA World Cup 2026 has been a successful season as the fans enjoyed this season as it was filled full of chaos and intense moments. We are left with the final game of the season, which is held between Argentina and Spain. Ahead of this crucial clash, the FIFA World Cup President shared a lovely message, where he thanked all the Indian fans and Zee TV for making this season more special by promoting it.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and FIFA have signed a broadcast deal from 2026 to 2034. As part of this agreement Zee TV will telecast several FIFA tournaments, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the FIFA Youth World Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

Before the World Cup final, the FIFA President said, “I want to thank my friends at Zee TV for promoting football in India.”

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What did the FIFA President say about Indian football?

Gianni Infantino praised the love for football in India and spoke about his visits to the country. He said before the 2026 FIFA World Cup final “We know that India is a country passionate about football, and the Indian market has immense potential. This is something I witnessed firsthand during the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.“

He further said “I witnessed the same passion at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which saw a record-breaking attendance of over 1.3 million fans, and five years later,at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. I also visited India in 2020 for an IOC meeting and had the honor of meeting former captain Sunil Chhetri, India’s most capped and highest-scoring international player.”

The FIFA President also spoke about India’s connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He said, “Furthermore, your beautiful country was fully present at the FIFA World Cup 2026, where players of Indian origin represented other national teams, including New Zealand, Australia, Qatar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Thousands of Indian supporters were among the 6.5 million fans who enjoyed the matches across all 16 host cities, many of whom rooted for other teams, such as Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, or England.“

Gianni Infantino thanks India

At the end of his message, Infantino thanked everyone for supporting football in India and shared his hope of seeing India play in the FIFA World Cup one day.

He said, “I thank you once again for all the efforts you make to promote our game in India, and of course, I look forward to the day when we can welcome India to the FIFA World Cup. Thank you for your support of football – and best wishes to all of you.”