It has been an extremely unhappy period in Indian men’s football, with the team struggling immensely over the last 18 months. Since the beginning of 2024, India have played 16 matches and won only once, and things have reached a tipping point after a 1-0 loss to lowly Hong Kong in Tuesday’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier.
Fan frustration with Marquez has increased significantly in 2025, with a string of humiliating losses in which the national team has looked absolutely toothless in front of goal. It is now three consecutive games without any goals, against fairly manageable opposition in Bangladesh, Thailand, and now Hong Kong.
With India’s qualification chances for the 2027 Asia Cup now hanging by a thread, there is an expectation that Marquez might step back from his role as head coach after all momentum has stalled in India’s football progress.
The decision to bench Sunil Chhetri for this match against Hong Kong has been seen as a managerial blunder, and as per those in the know, the Spaniard is contemplating resigning from his position within a year of taking over for Igor Stimac in July 2024. India have slipped down to 133 in the FIFA world rankings.
However, an AIFF source has claimed that Marquez has thus far taken no action in terms of stepping down from his position, with India’s football federation only able to await any decision he makes.
‘We have not got any request in writing…’
Speaking on the steps required to step down from the role, a source explained to PTI that it is not a unilateral decision, and that he would only be able to leave following a mutual agreement: “He can do so only after mutual agreement, that the AIFF gives him permission to part ways.”
Marquez signed on for the coaching role with a two year tender, and only 11 months into the role, results haven’t gone to plan and led to immense pressure from stakeholders. Nevertheless, Marquez hasn’t yet communicated a desire to resign from his position.
“We have not got any request in writing from Manolo that he wants to leave from the job. We can apply our mind only after he informs us what he wants,” explained the source further.
India have a period of time to decide what they need to do next, with four out of four wins required to stay alive in the qualification hunt, currently at the bottom of their group. Their next Asian Cup qualification fixtures is a set of matches home and away against Singapore during the October international break, but with no guarantee that Marquez will be at the helm for those games.
