The captain of the Indian football team, Sunil Chhetri, overtakes the Argentine legend, Lionel Messi, in the race of most goals scored in international matches, on Monday. India picked up a 2-0 win against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, both being scored by the captain.
Before this match, Chhetri was at 72 goals equalled to Messi, but now holds the tag of second-most international goals scored, i.e., 74 among the active players. The match took place at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.
Sunil Chhetri moves up to the 11th position!
The Indian Captain leads India to their first victory in the FIFA world cup qualifiers by scoring two consecutive goals in the final phase of the match, one at the 79th minute, and another at 92nd. Applause has been coming from everywhere as the 36-year-old striker, moved up in the men’s all-time list of most international goals at the 11th position.
The trio of Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis, Kuwait’s Bashar, and Japan’s Kunishige Kamamoto, all having 75 international goals, remains in front of the Indian captain on this list. He is also in a race with the Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo, being the highest international goal scorer among the active players, being at 103.
Rise of Indian Football under Chhetri’s Reign
With the victory brought by Sunil Chhetri in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers, he not only moved upward among the top goal scorers but also helped India to step forward for the AFC Asian Cup China Qualifiers. This is also the second victory under Igor Stimac, the manager of the Indian football team.
Sunil Chhetri lifts India to the third position
With this much-needed victory, India moves to the third position in the Group E standings and has gained 6 points, whereas Bangladesh remains at the bottom of the table without being won a single match till now.
Though India is out of contention for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the race for AFC Asian Cup is left yet. They will meet Afghanistan on Tuesday on 15th June, who are at the fourth position with 4 points and already out of the contest.
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