India's talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri has scored 94 goals in 150 appearances, twelve behind third-placed Argentina star Lionel Messi in the list for most international goals scored by a player.
Chhetri, who made his international debut in 2005, is regarded as one of the greatest ever footballers of India, having made the most appearances and also being the all-time top goal-scorer for the country.
Chhetri is only behind Messi (106 goals in 180 appearances) and leader Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (128 goals in 205 appearances) in the list for players with most goals for their national team among active players.
With his latest hattrick against Pakistan, Chhetri surpassed Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia in fourth place for all-time most international goals by a player. 15 out of his 90 goals have been scored via penalties. He has scored the most against Nepal and Maldives.
In June 2005, following his success in the under-20 team, Chhetri announced his international arrival with a goal against arch-rivals Pakistan and since then went on to become the first Indian to make the top 10 international goalscorers list.
Chhetri has also scored more than 140 goals for the clubs he has represented over the years, including Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mumbai City FC among others.
The Indian football great has also had stints abroad with Kansas City Wizards in 2010 and the Sporting Club Portugal in 2012-13. His longest club stint has been with Bengaluru FC.
Chhetri has won many individual awards alongside some awards with club and country throughout his career. Now, here we take a look at Chhetri's stats, record, awards and numbers for the Indian national team:
Competiton/Tournament | Appearances | Goals |
SAFF Championship | 27 | 23 |
Friendlies | 40 | 19 |
Intercontinental Cup (Friendly tournament) | 11 | 13 |
FIFA World Cup qualifiers | 23 | 10 |
Nehru Cup (Friendly tournament) | 14 | 9 |
AFC Asian Cup qualifiers | 12 | 8 |
AFC Challenge Cup | 8 | 4 |
AFC Asian Cup | 5 | 4 |
AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers | 6 | 3 |
King's Cup (Friendly tournament) | 1 | 1 |
Asian Games | 2 | 1 |
Against | Appearance(s) | Goal(s) |
Maldives | 6 | 8 |
Nepal | 13 | 9 |
Chinese Taipei | 5 | 6 |
Bangladesh | 7 | 7 |
Cambodia | 3 | 5 |
Tajikistan | 5 | 5 |
Kenya | 2 | 4 |
Kyrgyz Republic | 4 | 4 |
Pakistan | 7 | 4 |
Afghanistan | 10 | 5 |
Myanmar | 5 | 3 |
Bhutan | 2 | 3 |
Vietnam | 2 | 3 |
Guam | 3 | 3 |
Lebanon | 6 | 3 |
Syria | 6 | 2 |
Malaysia | 4 | 3 |
Oman | 5 | 2 |
Thailand | 3 | 2 |
Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 |
Bahrain | 2 | 1 |
South Korea | 1 | 1 |
Cameroon | 1 | 1 |
Philippines | 2 | 1 |
Palestine | 2 | 1 |
Puerto Rico | 1 | 1 |
Macao | 2 | 1 |
New Zealand | 1 | 1 |
Curacao | 1 | 1 |
Hong Kong | 1 | 1 |
Vanuatu | 1 | 1 |
South Korea | 1 | 1 |
Kuwait | 2 | 1 |
Ranking | Player | Country | Goals | Appearances |
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 128 | 205 |
2 | Alie Daei | Iran | 109 | 148 |
3 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 106 | 180 |
4 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 94 | 150 |
5 | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 89 | 142 |
6 | Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | 84 | 89 |
7 | Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 83 | 112 |
8 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 82 | 147 |
9 | Ali Mabkhout | UAE | 81 | 109 |
10 | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | 79 | 111 |
10 | Neymar | Brazil | 79 | 128 |
12 | Hussein Saeed | Iraq | 78 | 136 |
13 | Pele | Brazil | 77 | 92 |
14 | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 75 | 68 |
14 | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | 75 | 76 |
14 | Bashar Abdullah | Kuwait | 75 | 134 |
Award | Year(s) |
AIFF Player of the Year | 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018–19 |
FPAI Indian Player of the Year | 2009, 2018, 2019 |
SAFF Championship Player of the Tournament | 2011, 2015, 2021 |
SAFF Championship Top Scorer | 2011, 2021, 2023 |
Hero of the Intercontinental Cup | 2018 |
Award | Year(s) |
AFC Challenge Cup | 2008 |
SAFF Championship | 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023 |
Nehru Cup | 2007, 2009, 2012 |
Intercontinental Cup | 2017, 2018, 2023 |
Tri-Nation Series | 2023 |