On Thursday, May 16, Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian football team, announced his retirement from international football in a video posted on his official X account. The 39-year-old said that he will be playing his last match for India against Kuwait, which is the second round game of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on June 6.
During his emotional address, Sunil Chhetri talked about how he thought long and hard about his decision to retire from international football. He also remarked that “I have practically lived the dream” before stating that nothing comes to playing for the country.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at five major achievements of Sunil Chhetri in his international footballing career.
Most international appearances for India
After making his senior debut for India in 2005, scoring a goal against Pakistan, Sunil Chhetri started to take giant strides in his footballing career. The first international trophy for Sunil Chhetri came in 2007 when India won the Nehru Cup, and he went on to win the SAFF Championship and Intercontinental Cup multiple times on his way to playing 150 matches for the national team, the most in the Indian footballing history.