The name is more than enough to ring a bell in the minds of Indian football freaks. Chhetri is only 14 goals shy of FIFA World Cup 2022 winner Lionel Messi and five-time Ballon D’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo as the third-highest active goal scorer in international men’s football. (Pic: AFP/@IndianFootball/Twitter)
Updated On: 2023-06-21 10:28 PM IST
Compiled by : Editor
Chhetri, who made his debut for Mohun Bagan in 2002, went on to play for USA’s Major League Soccer team Kansas City Wizards in 2010 as well as for the reserve team of Sporting CP in the Portuguese football league back in 2012.
Sunil Chhetri has been honoured with the AIFF Player of the Year seven times. He has represented major Indian clubs like East Bengal (2008-2009), Dempo (2009-2010), ISL sides Mumbai City FC (2015-2016), and Bengaluru FC.
Chhetri has won major club trophies with Bengaluru FC, namely the I-League (2014 and 2016), ISL (2019), Super Cup (2018). He also led Bengaluru FC to the AFC Cup final in 2016.
Chhetri now ranks third among active players in international matches, with 86 goals in 135 appearances, after only Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi. The Indian captain has the fifth-highest goal total overall.
One of Chhetri’s major goal-scoring breakthroughs came in the 2011 SAFF Championship in New Delhi. During the ninth edition of the tournament, he went past Indian legend IM Vijayan's record of six goals in a single edition by scoring a record seven goals in India’s title win.
