CHENNAI: March 31 2026. That was the date Aussie-born India forward Ryan Williams had written on his wall and constantly looked at it everyday before the day finally arrived. It was when he got to represent India after a fairly long wait. Months after he gave up his Australian passport to play for the India men’s senior national team, he opened his India account five minutes into his debut against Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. India won the game 2-1.
In November 2025, Williams had surrendered his Australian passport for an Indian one. He was also part of the India camp but could not play matches then as an NOC certificate from Football Australia did not reach on time.
Additionally, Indian law does not allow dual citizenship and the national sports policy mandates only full citizens to represent the country. Overseas Citizens of India and Persons of Indian Origin athletes must formally renounce their foreign passports to play for India. His Indian roots originate from his maternal grandfather Lincoln Grostate, who was an Anglo-Indian footballer. He played for Mumbai, featuring in the 1956 Santosh Trophy winning team that beat a star-studded Bengal side.
Two weeks after he scored his first goal, Williams opened up when he got the idea to represent India, the lead-up to his debut and his first goal. “I was actually more nervous about making sure I got the words right for the national anthem than the game itself!,” he recounted in a virtual interaction to this daily.
The lead-up to the match was more nervous than exciting for Williams. A minor injury to his calf which forced him out of Bengaluru FC’s 3-1 win against Inter Kashi a week before India's match worried him. “Luckily, the physios at the national team camp helped me to get back to fitness,” he said. But just two days before the match Williams knew in his mind that he was going to do well.
And there was no way to round-off that long wait with a goal. On a humid night in Kochi, Williams opened his India account. Feeding on a good through-ball in the right flanks, Manvir squared it nicely to Williams in the box, who slotted it in the bottom right corner.
“I thought, I'm gonna miss this. But the goal came out of that zone where just everything just happens, you don't really remember anything,” he added. And Williams celebrated the goal, and it was well-complimented by the Kochi crowd. “(It was) pure ecstasy because there was relief in there, there's joy, happiness. It was everything rolled into one, because I'd imagined that moment numerous times in my head,” he said.
“I thought, I'm gonna miss this. But the goal came out of that zone where just everything just happens, you don't really remember anything,” he added. And Williams celebrated the goal, and it was well-complimented by the Kochi crowd. “(It was) pure ecstasy because there was relief in there, there's joy, happiness. It was everything rolled into one, because I'd imagined that moment numerous times in my head,” he said.
‘BFC helped me with Indian passport’
Williams was signed by BFC in July 2023 from Perth Glory. Notably, Ryan was not the first from the family to play in India, as twin brother Aryn played for NEROCA FC from 2017 to 2019. “With all the coaching staff being English then, that actually really helped me adjust a lot quicker,” he said. "In this club, I've made like brothers more than friends. It's a family club. We know fans on a first-name basis now because of how much they travel. The club helped me a lot in the end with getting the passport, so credits to them."
He revealed that signing for BFC was when he thought of representing India one day. “I started Googling and trying to find out. My twin brother Aryn tried and they said no. And then he just said, okay, no problem. Whereas I'm a bit more stubborn. So I spoke to numerous lawyers and they all said no, but I said, 'I'm going to do it anyway',” he said.
“Funny enough, the place I was living in, there was a lawyer across the road and we had just bumped into each other, had a conversation. I said, Oh, can you help me with this? she said, 'Yeah, of course.' So she pushed it, we pushed it, and then we ended up getting it,” he said.
'Foreign and homegrown talent important'
At a time where India is desperately seeking to improve their mark, a call for having more Indian citizens overseas or foreign players with Indian roots in the team has been made. Williams, when asked about where he stands on this keeping in mind the home-grown talent, said that both are important.
"I feel the foreign-born boys like myself would bring maybe a few more eyes to the game. So a little bit more hype around Indian football and then the younger boys will benefit from that. If we get the right players that come in and make a difference, and not those who just say 'my mum's Indian, I wanna play for India' and they're not up to the level, then there's absolutely no point," he said.
"The easier way is the grassroots because of how difficult it is to actually get citizenship. So it's not an easy path to take," he said.
One thing that Ryan felt is that such homegrown talent are not given a long rope in crucial positions like that of a striker's.
"I've had this conversation with other guys about why does India not have any strikers apart from Sunil (Chhettri)? But even if you look at Sunil, you know, how many games has he played as an out-and-out striker? Because I saw clubs, the first signing that they want to make is a foreign striker because one of the most important things is to score goals," he explained.