Chhetri, who made his international debut in 2005, is regarded as one of the greatest ever footballers of India, having made the most appearances and also being the all-time top goal-scorer for the country.
Chhetri is only behind Messi (102 goals in 174 appearances) and leader Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (122 goals in 198 appearances) in the list for players with most goals for their national team among active players.
With his latest goal, Chhetri surpassed Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas in fifth place for all-time most international goals by a player. 13 out of his 85 goals have been scored via penalties and he has scored the most against Nepal and Maldives.
In June 2005, following his success in the under-20 team, Chhetri announced his international arrival with a goal against arch-rivals Pakistan and since then went on to become the first Indian to make the top 10 international goalscorers list.
Chhetri has also scored more than 140 goals for the clubs he has represented over the years, including Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mumbai City FC among others.
The Indian football great has also had stints abroad with Kansas City Wizards in 2010 and the Sporting Club Portugal in 2012-13.
Chhetri has won many individual awards alongside some awards with club and country throughout his career. Now, here we take a look at Chhetri’s stats, record, awards and numbers for the Indian national team:
Sunil Chhetri Profile
Date of Birth: 3 August 1984
Place of birth: Secunderabad, Telangana
Age: 38
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
International Debut: 2005
Jersey Number: 11
International Goals: 85 goals in 134 matches
Sunil Chhetri Awards
2011 – Arjuna Award
2019 – Padma Shri Award
2021 – Khel Ratna Award
Sunil Chhetri Individual Honours
| Award | Year(s) |
| AIFF Player of the Year | 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018–19 |
| FPAI Indian Player of the Year | 2009, 2018, 2019 |
| SAFF Championship Player of the Tournament | 2011, 2015, 2021 |
| SAFF Championship Top Scorer | 2011, 2021 |
| Hero of the Intercontinental Cup | 2018 |
Sunil Chhetri Honours With Country
| Award | Year(s) |
| AFC Challenge Cup | 2008 |
| SAFF Championship | 2011, 2015, 2021 |
| Nehru Cup | 2007, 2009, 2012 |
| Intercontinental Cup | 2017, 2018 |
Sunil Chhetri Records
134 – Most appearances for India
85 – Highest international goals by an Indian
19 – Most goals by an Indian players in AFC Competitions
6 times – AIFF Player of the Year
3 – Most hat-tricks for India
AFC Cup All-time XI (The Strikers) Inductee in 2021
Sunil Chhetri International Goals Break-up
| Competiton/Tournament | Appearances | Goals |
| SAFF Championship | 22 | 18 |
| Friendlies | 35 | 17 |
| Intercontinental Cup (Friendly tournament) | 8 | 11 |
| FIFA World Cup qualifiers | 19 | 9 |
| Nehru Cup (Friendly tournament) | 14 | 9 |
| AFC Asian Cup qualifiers | 12 | 8 |
| AFC Challenge Cup | 8 | 4 |
| AFC Asian Cup | 5 | 4 |
| AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers | 6 | 3 |
| King’s Cup (Friendly tournament) | 1 | 1 |
Sunil Chhetri International Goals Versus Teams
| Against | Appearance(s) | Goal(s) |
| Maldives | 6 | 8 |
| Nepal | 12 | 8 |
| Chinese Taipei | 5 | 6 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 6 |
| Cambodia | 3 | 5 |
| Tajikistan | 5 | 5 |
| Kenya | 2 | 4 |
| Afghanistan | 7 | 4 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 4 | 4 |
| Myanmar | 5 | 3 |
| Bhutan | 2 | 3 |
| Vietnam | 2 | 3 |
| Guam | 3 | 3 |
| Syria | 6 | 2 |
| Lebanon | 3 | 2 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 2 |
| Oman | 5 | 2 |
| Thailand | 3 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 |
| Bahrain | 2 | 1 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 6 | 1 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 1 |
| Philippines | 2 | 1 |
| Palestine | 2 | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 1 |
| Macao | 2 | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 1 |
| Curacao | 1 | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1 |
| South Korea | 2 | 1 |
Top 15 players with most goals in international football
| Ranking | Player | Country | Goals | Appearances |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 122 | 198 |
| 2 | Alie Daei | Iran | 109 | 148 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 102 | 174 |
| 4 | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 89 | 142 |
| 5 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 85 | 133 |
| 6 | Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | 84 | 89 |
| 7 | Ali Mabkhout | UAE | 80 | 107 |
| 8 | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | 79 | 111 |
| 9 | Hussein Saeed | Iraq | 78 | 136 |
| Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 78 | 140 | |
| 11 | Pele | Brazil | 77 | 92 |
| Neymar | Brazil | 77 | 124 | |
| 13 | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | 75 | 76 |
| Bashar Abdullah | Kuwait | 75 | 134 |