• Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri announced his decision to retire from international football after the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait on June 6.

• Chhetri, who made his debut in 2005, has scored 94 goals for the country. 

• He will leave the scene as India’s all-time top scorer and most-capped player (150 matches).

• He is also third in the list of goal scorers among active players behind Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Argentina’s Lionel Messi and currently sits as the fourth in the all-time list of international goal-scorers as well.

• Chhetri’s final match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

A glittering career spanning over two decades

• The Secunderabad-born footballer, who made his club 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 the Sporting CP in the Portuguese football league back in 2012.

• On his international debut against Pakistan way back in 2005, Chhetri, who would go on to become one of the game’s most lethal strikers, scored, and he rated it as his best moment. 

• He also played a part in India’s 2008 AFC Challenge Cup win, which helped them qualify for the first AFC Asian Cup (2011) in 27 years.

• Among major successes, Chhetri helped India win the Nehru Cup (2007, 2009, 2012) as well as the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship (2011, 2015, 2021). 

• The seven-time AIFF Player of the Year winner has also represented major Indian clubs like East Bengal (2008-2009), Dempo (2009-2010), and Indian Super League sides Mumbai City FC (2015-2016) and Bengaluru FC. 

• In club football, he has tasted most success at Bengaluru FC, winning major trophies like the I-League (2014 and 2016), ISL (2019), Super Cup (2018). He also led Bengaluru FC to the AFC Cup final in 2016. 

• Chhetri, 39, had made his 150th national appearance in March and scored on the occasion against Afghanistan in Guwahati.

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