Sunil Chhetri’s Indian national team career and achievements | In pictures
The Hindu
Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri announces retirement after a stellar career, leaving a lasting legacy in Indian football.
Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri has announced his retirement from international football, stating that the World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait on June 6, 2024, will be his final game for the Blue Tigers.
The 39-year-old is India’s all-time leading goalscorer for the Indian team and has played more matches than anyone in the history of the national team.
He made his senior-level debut for India in June 2005 against arch-rivals Pakistan and found the back of the net on his debut. He won his first international trophy when India defeated Syria in the final of the 2007 Nehru Cup. He would go on to win two more Nehru Cup titles with India in 2009 and 2012.
In the following year, Chhetri scored a hat-trick in the AFC Challenge Cup final, when India defeated Tajikistan 4-1. He helped India establish itself as a dominant force in South Asian football with further SAFF Championship title wins in 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023.
In his decorated career, India’s former ace striker Bhaichung Bhutia passed the baton to him and chose Chhetri to lead the national football team. Chhetri featured at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and was first named the national team captain at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers.
Chhetri has won the prestigious All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year title a total of seven times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons.
He was also conferred upon the Arjuna Award in 2011 and the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021. He is the first footballer to win the Khel Ratna, the country’s highest award for sporting achievement.