Is Sunil Chhetri The Best Indian Football Player?

Sunil Chhetri is regarded as one of the best Indian football players. When you talk about Indian football history, you can't skip the name of Indian Football captain Sunil Chhetri. Famously called "Skip", Chhetri has been the best football player in India for over 20 years. Over the years, Sunil Chhetri started his illustrious career in the National Football League and has seen the evolution of Indian football and the Indian Super League. He's been the man to watch out for in the Indian football team, repeatedly leading them to many glories and achievements in the last few decades. In this blog, we take a look at why Sunil Chhetri is the best Indian football player.

Is Sunil Chhetri the best Indian football player?

1. Sunil Chhetri is the highest goal-scorer in Indian football

In an era of dominance at the club football level, scoring goals at the international stage, wearing the national colours is still an experience every footballer dreams of. While wearing the blues, Sunil Chhetri helped the Blue Tigers win the Nehru Cup in 2007, 2009 and 2012. India won the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in 2011, 2015 and 2021. The star India striker also played a crucial part in India's 2008 AFC Challenge Cup win, which helped India qualify for the AFC Asian Cup in 27 years. With 94 goals to his name in 150 international appearances, Indian Football captain Sunil Chhetri is currently the third-highest goalscorer among active players in international matches, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are also part of the top 7 best football players in 2024. Chhetri is part of the unique record of players to score the highest goals in football. Ali Dae’s tally of 108 goals is well within reach. It is for sure that the Football world will get to read more about top Sunil Chhetri goals by the end of his legendary career. Sunil Chhetri needs 6 goals to reach the 100-goal mark. He is the highest goal scorer by an Indian and has been part of some of the best India Football moments in his 19-year career.

2. Sunil Chhetri is the top Indian goal-scorer in the ISL

When you talk about football, especially the Indian football league, you can't skip the name of India's legendary footballer. Sunil Chhetri is the only Indian in the list of the top five best football players in ISL history. The Indian football team captain has scored 61 goals and assisted 11 times in 155 appearances for Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC combined. Despite his old age, the Bengaluru FC captain is still playing at his peak. Chhetri has scored five goals in this ongoing 2023-24 season. The Indian captain has scored 158 goals in 365 appearances in his career at the club level and is the top Indian goalscorer in the ISL. Overall, Sunil Chhetri has already scored 252 goals in 515 appearances. The star India striker has scored two hat-tricks in the ISL. He has the most number of hat-tricks by an Indian in the league. The Indian football captain is the only player on this list to have achieved this feat twice for two clubs. In 2015, while playing for Mumbai City FC, Sunil Chhetri etched his name in the history books by becoming the first Indian player to score a hat-trick in the Indian football league. His second hat-trick was for Bengaluru FC against FC Pune City three years later, in 2018. With Chhetri getting better with age, it is only a matter of time before he scores more hat-tricks and even goes on to score 100 goals. The moment will be a perfect end to his career and will be right there when it comes to Sunil Chhetri football records.

3. Sunil Chettri is India's most-capped player

The Secunderabad-born footballer, who made his debut for Mohun Bagan in 2002, has made 150 international appearances for the Blue Tigers so far and is India's most-capped player. He made his international debut for India against Pakistan in 2005 and scored a goal in his first match. In 2019, Sunil Chhetri achieved a massive feat by becoming only the second Indian player in history to play 100 international matches after the 'torchbearer of Indian Football' Bhaichung Bhutia. In a career over two decades, the centre-forward has won many individual awards and led India to many victories. Chhetri has been playing for the Blue Tigers for 18 years. The 'captain fantastic' has been the backbone for India to give a solid start at the top with his goal-scoring ability. 'Skip' Sunil Chhetri remains one of the top Indian players in Football news, even though India has not been performing that well recently. However, Sunil Chhetri's goal-striking ability has cemented his name among the football legends.