India, July 21 For the second time, Stephen Constantine has submitted an application for the position of head coach of the Indian men's squad. The Anglo-Cypriot is one of about 170 applicants who have answered the advertisement placed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on July 4 in search of a successor for Manolo Marquez. The application deadline was July 13.

Constantine, 62, the former coach of Pakistan, has led India twice before, once between 2002 and 2005 and once more between 2015 and the 2019 Asian Cup. In 2022–2023, he also managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League (ISL).

Constantine's final game with Pakistan was the 0-1 loss to Myanmar on June 10, which brought an end to a tenure that began in September 2023 with one victory, one tie, and eight defeats. Marquez's final game before the FC Goa coach and AIFF mutually agreed to split ways was also on June 10, when India lost to Hong Kong away by a score of 0-1.

The Asian Cup qualifiers against Singapore are on October 9 and 14, after an international window in September that India would miss.

According to an AIFF official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to safeguard ties, former Liverpool and Australia forward Harry Kewell has applied, as have at least three other coaches in the 2024–25 ISL. Kewell's previous coaching stint was with Yokohama F Marinos in 2023–24. They are: Andrey Chernyshov (Mohammedan Sporting), Sergio Lobera (Odisha FC), and Khalid Jamil (Jamshedpur FC). The list also includes Sanjoy Sen, who led Mohun Bagan to the I-League title in 2014–15 and Bengal to the Santosh Trophy in 2024–25.

Although he won the ISL double with Mumbai City and the Super Cup with FC Goa, Lobera was unable to break into the top six last year. Because of unpaid wages, Chernyshov departed in the middle of the season after leading Mohammedan Sporting to the I-League championship, which earned them a place in the ISL.

Jamil, 48, guided Jamshedpur FC to the semifinals in 2024–25, where they were defeated by a score of 2-3 overall against the reigning champion, Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Four seasons after leading the unknown Aizawl FC to the I-League championship, then India's top league, Jamil became the first Indian coach to lead a team to the ISL semifinals in 2020–21.

He had previously been given the position of India's under-23 coach, but he had chosen to remain at Jamshedpur FC. "Things changed when the senior team's job offer opened up. It is unlikely that there would be any national team player whom Khalid does not know well," said a league official. The official did not want to be identified because he was not permitted to communicate with the press.

Although Constantine's experience with India cannot be ignored, Jamil may be a leading candidate because he would be less expensive than a foreign coach and because AIFF executives are pushing for an Indian coach until the Asian Cup qualifiers in March 2026.

According to the aforementioned AIFF official, the national team director Subrata Paul and AIFF's technical director Syed Sabir Pasha will sift through the list of applicants and send it to the technical committee.

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