Sunil Chhetri is an Indian professional footballer who represents the India national football team as a forward. He is the country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player. [1] [2] [3] As of 6 June 2024, he has scored 94 goals in 151 [a] official international appearances since his debut on 12 June 2005 against Pakistan. [b] [c] [15] [16] [17]
On 9 December 2011, Chhetri netted twice in a match (also known as a brace) in India's 3–1 semi-final win over the Maldives in the 2011 SAFF Championship to take his tally to 31, [18] thus becoming his country's all-time leading goalscorer surpassing the 29 set by I. M. Vijayan. [1] [19] With his 94 international goals, he is currently the third-highest active international goalscorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina. He is also the highest active goalscorer from Asia. On 21 June 2023, Chhetri scored a hat-trick for India in a 4–0 win over the Pakistan to take his tally to 90 international goals, thus becoming the second-highest international goalscorer from Asia of all time. [20] His tally of 94 puts him as the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of international football. [21]
Chhetri scored his first ever international goal during his first ever international appearance on 12 June 2005 against Pakistan. [17] Chhetri's first international tournament for India was the 2007 Nehru Cup where he scored four goals in total: two against Cambodia, one against Syria, and one against Kyrgyzstan, which helped India to win their first Nehru Cup title. [22] [23] Chhetri's 50th goal came during his 88th match in a 3–2 victory against the Maldives in the 2015 SAFF Championship semi-final on 31 December 2015. [24] He is the only Indian footballer to have scored 50 or more international goals. Between all of his 94 goals: 23 came in SAFF Championship matches, 18 came in friendlies, 13 came in Intercontinental Cup, 10 in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 9 in the Nehru Cup, 8 in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, 4 in AFC Asian Cup finals, 1 each in the King's Cup and the Merdeka Tournament, and the rest have come in the AFC Challenge Cup finals and its qualifiers. [15] Chhetri has scored four international hat-tricks, the most by any Indian and has scored braces on sixteen occasions. [1] [15] He has scored nine times against Nepal, the most against a team. He has also scored eleven international goals at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, his most at a single ground. He has scored 16 out of his 94 goals from penalty kicks.
‡ | Indicates goal was scored from a penalty kick |
---|
Goal | Cap | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 1 | 12 June 2005 | Ayub Stadium, Quetta | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | [16] |
2. | 7 | 17 August 2007 | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | ![]() | 4–0 | 6–0 | 2007 Nehru Cup (Friendly tournament) | [23] |
3. | 5–0 | |||||||
4. | 9 | 23 August 2007 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–3 | |||
5. | 10 | 26 August 2007 | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–0 | |||
6. | 12 | 8 October 2007 | Saida International Stadium, Sidon | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [25] |
7. | 13 | 30 October 2007 | Fatorda Stadium, Margao | 1–0 | 2–2 | [26] | ||
8. | 14 | 24 May 2008 | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | [27] | |
9. | 15 | 3–0 | ||||||
10. | 16 | 3 June 2008 | Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé | ![]() | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2008 SAFF Championship | [28] [29] |
11. | 18 | 11 June 2008 | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–1 | [28] [30] | ||
12. | 24 | 7 August 2008 | Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2008 AFC Challenge Cup | [31] [32] |
13. | 25 | 13 August 2008 | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | ![]() | 1–0 | 4–1 | [33] [34] | |
14. | 3–0 | |||||||
15. | 4–1 | |||||||
16. | 28 | 23 August 2009 | ![]() | 2–0 ‡ | 2–1 | 2009 Nehru Cup (Friendly tournament) | [35] | |
17. | 36 | 8 October 2010 | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly | [36] [37] |
18. | 2–0 | |||||||
19. | 3–1 | |||||||
20. | 39 | 14 January 2011 | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha | ![]() | 2–4 | 2–5 | 2011 AFC Asian Cup | [38] |
21. | 40 | 18 January 2011 | Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha | ![]() | 1–2 ‡ | 1–4 | ||
22. | 41 | 21 March 2011 | Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification | [14] |
23. | 44 | 10 July 2011 | Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | |
24. | 50 | 16 November 2011 | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–2 | ||
25. | 3–1 | |||||||
26. | 51 | 3 December 2011 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2011 SAFF Championship | [39] |
27. | 52 | 5 December 2011 | ![]() | 4–0 | 5–0 | [40] | ||
28. | 5–0 | |||||||
29. | 53 | 7 December 2011 | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–0 | [41] | ||
30. | 54 | 9 December 2011 | ![]() | 2–1 ‡ | 3–1 | [42] [43] | ||
31. | 3–1 | |||||||
32. | 55 | 11 December 2011 | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 4–0 | [42] [43] | ||
33. | 59 | 22 August 2012 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2012 Nehru Cup (Friendly tournament) | [44] | |
34. | 60 | 25 August 2012 | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 3–0 | [45] | ||
35. | 3–0 | |||||||
36. | 62 | 2 September 2012 | ![]() | 2–2 ‡ | 2–2 | [46] | ||
37. | 66 | 4 March 2013 | Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon | ![]() | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification | [47] |
38. | 4–0 | |||||||
39. | 70 | 3 September 2013 | Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2013 SAFF Championship | [48] |
40. | 73 | 15 November 2013 | Kanchenjunga Stadium, Siliguri | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | [49] |
41. | 74 | 19 November 2013 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | [50] | ||
42. | 75 | 5 March 2014 | Fatorda Stadium, Goa | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–2 | [51] | |
43. | 2–2 | |||||||
44. | 76 | 6 October 2014 | Kanchenjunga Stadium, Siliguri | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–3 | [52] | |
45. | 77 | 12 March 2015 | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | [53] |
46. | 2–0 | |||||||
47. | 79 | 11 June 2015 | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–2 | [54] | |
48. | 80 | 16 June 2015 | Guam F.A. National Training Center, Harmon | ![]() | 1–2 | 1–2 | [55] | |
49. | 87 | 27 December 2015 | Trivandrum International Stadium, Trivandrum | ![]() | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2015 SAFF Championship | [56] |
50. | 88 | 31 December 2015 | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–2 | [24] | ||
51. | 89 | 3 January 2016 | ![]() | 2–1 | 2–1 | [57] | ||
52. | 92 | 3 September 2016 | Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai | ![]() | 2–1 | 4–1 | Friendly | [58] |
53. | 93 | 22 March 2017 | Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly | [59] |
54. | 94 | 28 March 2017 | Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification | [60] |
55. | 95 | 13 June 2017 | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
56. | 97 | 11 October 2017 | ![]() | 2–1 | 4–1 | |||
57. | 98 | 14 November 2017 | Fatorda Stadium, Margao | ![]() | 1–1 ‡ | 2–2 | ||
58. | 99 | 1 June 2018 | Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai | ![]() | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2018 Intercontinental Cup (Friendly tournament) | [61] |
59. | 2–0 | |||||||
60. | 4–0 | |||||||
61. | 100 | 4 June 2018 | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 3–0 | [62] | ||
62. | 3–0 | |||||||
63. | 101 | 7 June 2018 | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–2 | [63] | ||
64. | 102 | 10 June 2018 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | [64] | ||
65. | 2–0 | |||||||
66. | 105 | 6 January 2019 | Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 4–1 | 2019 AFC Asian Cup | [65] |
67. | 2–1 | |||||||
68. | 108 | 5 June 2019 | Chang Arena, Buriram | ![]() | 1–2 ‡ | 1–3 | 2019 King's Cup (Friendly tournament) | [66] |
69. | 109 | 7 July 2019 | The Arena, Ahmedabad | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 2–4 | 2019 Intercontinental Cup (Friendly tournament) | [67] |
70. | 2–0 | |||||||
71. | 110 | 13 July 2019 | ![]() | 2–4 | 2–5 | [68] | ||
72. | 112 | 5 September 2019 | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [69] |
73. | 117 | 7 June 2021 | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | [70] | |
74. | 2–0 | |||||||
75. | 120 | 5 September 2021 | Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | [71] |
76. | 121 | 4 October 2021 | Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2021 SAFF Championship | [72] |
77. | 123 | 10 October 2021 | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | [73] | ||
78. | 124 | 13 October 2021 | ![]() | 2–1 | 3–1 | [74] | ||
79. | 3–1 | |||||||
80. | 125 | 16 October 2021 | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–0 | [75] | ||
81. | 127 | 8 June 2022 | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 2–0 | 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification | [76] |
82. | 2–0 | |||||||
83. | 128 | 11 June 2022 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–1 | [77] | ||
84. | 129 | 14 June 2022 | ![]() | 2–0 | 4–0 | [78] | ||
85. | 133 | 28 March 2023 | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium, Imphal | ![]() | 2–0 ‡ | 2–0 | Friendly | [79] |
86. | 135 | 12 June 2023 | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2023 Intercontinental Cup (Friendly tournament) | [80] |
87. | 137 | 18 June 2023 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | [81] | ||
88. | 138 | 21 June 2023 | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore | ![]() | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2023 SAFF Championship | [82] |
89. | 2–0 ‡ | |||||||
90. | 3–0 ‡ | |||||||
91. | 139 | 24 June 2023 | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | [83] | ||
92. | 140 | 27 June 2023 | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | [84] | ||
93. | 143 | 13 October 2023 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | ![]() | 2–3 | 2–4 | 2023 Merdeka Tournament (Friendly tournament) | [85] |
94. | 150 | 26 March 2024 | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati | ![]() | 1–0 ‡ | 1–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification | [86] |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Goal mins | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 13 August 2008 | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | ![]() | ![]() | 4–1 | 2008 AFC Challenge Cup | [33] |
2. | 8 October 2010 | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune | ![]() | ![]() | 3–1 | Friendly | [36] |
3. | 1 June 2018 | Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai | ![]() | ![]() | 5–0 | 2018 Intercontinental Cup | [61] |
4. | 21 June 2023 | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore | ![]() | ![]() | 4–0 | 2023 SAFF Championship | [20] |
|
|
|