Sunil Chhetri, India's record goalscorer, comes out of international retirement at 40
Sunil Chhetri, fourth on the all-time list of international goalscorers, has returned to the India national team.
The 40-year-old striker had announced his retirement from international football last year, having scored 94 goals for India, but has now returned to the India squad for March's matches against Maldives and Bangladesh.
Chhetri, whose senior career began in 2002 and who first played at international level in 2005, has made 151 appearances for India — a national record.
𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊. 🇮🇳
The captain, leader, legend will return to the Indian national team for the FIFA International Window in March.#IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/vzSQo0Ctez
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 6, 2025
Chhetri is behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Ali Daei on the list of record international scorers, and he is just six goals away from becoming football's fourth international centurion scorer.
While India has never won a major international tournament nor appeared at a World Cup finals, Chhetri has won 11 trophies with the nation including four South Asian Football Federation Championships.
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His club career has included spells at MLS side Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) where he made one appearance in 2010, while he briefly spent time at the B side of Portuguese club Sporting CP.
Chhetri currently plays for Indian Super League club Bengaluru, for whom he has scored over 100 goals since joining 2016.
India, coached by Manolo Marquez, play Maldives in a friendly on March 19 before beginning their Asian Cup qualification campaign at home to Bangladesh six days later, in a group that also contains Singapore and Hong Kong.
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