5 Records Sunil Chhetri Holds In Football: Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement from international football earlier today. In honor of the legend, we will look at five records Chettri has broken for India on the international stage.
Chhetri made his debut for the senior national team all the way back in 2005. Now, 19 years later, he will be playing his final match for India on June 6 against Kuwait at the same ground he made his debut at, Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium.
5 Records Sunil Chhetri Holds In Football
Let us get his most popular record out of the way first. In the span of 19 years, Sunil scored 94 goals for India. This is the third-highest goal tally for active players in international football, behind Ballon d’Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and ahead of the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Neymar. Suffice it to say, this is the highest goal tally for India in international football.
This also puts Sunil fourth on the list of all-time high scorers in international football.
Chhetri also has the most appearances for the India national football team, having played a whopping 150 games for the Blue Tigers. He will have retired after having played 151 games for the national team.
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Now coming to the India Super League, and Sunil Chhetri is naturally a legend in the league, despite not having played in the first season. Chhetri is the highest Indian goalscorer in the ISL, having scored 61 goals in 155 games. He is second on the list of all goal scorers behind Nigeria’s Bartholomew Ogbeche.
Sticking to the ISL, Chhetri also has the most goals scored for a single franchise, as he scored 54 times for former Champions Bengaluru FC.
The last record we will discuss is a local one, but it is all the more important. Sunil Chhetri has been named Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation a mind-boggling seven times. No other player even comes close to this one, as the legendary IM Vijayan comes in second on the list with three awards.
Apart from these awards, India’s captain Fantastic has been honored with the Padma Shri and the Khel Ratna Award by the Indian government.
Chhetri’s last appearance will come against Kuwait in a must-win game in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. India is currently second in Group A of round 2 of the qualifiers, four points behind unbeaten Qatar.
A win here will push them to seven points ahead of the last game against Qatar. Only the top two teams will qualify for the next round.
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