Sunil Chhetri Retirement: Goals, Achievements and Everything About Him

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The Indian Football legend and the man who single-handedly carried the Indian team on his shoulder over the past 19 years, Sunil Chhetri, announced his retirement. He is going to play his last match against Kuwait in the World Cup Qualification on June 6th, 2024. He is just behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who are the active players in the world right now.

There is one day that I will never forget and remember it quite often.. it’s the first time I played for my country, man, it was unbelievable,” he continued. “But the day before, morning of the day, Sukhi sir, my first national team coach, came to me in the morning and he’s like, you’re going to start. I can’t tell you how I was feeling, man.
I took my jersey, I sprayed some perfume on it, I have no idea why. So that day, everything that happened, once he told me, from breakfast to lunch and to the game and to my first goal on my debut, to conceding in the late 80th minute, that day is probably that I will never forget and it’s one of the best days of my national team journey.”
“And the moment I told myself first, that yes, this is the game that is going to be my last, is when I started recollecting everything,” he added. “It took time because the kid inside me never wants to stop if given a chance to play for his country. I am really fortunate in my life… there have been so many amazing things that have happened to me. I practically lived a dream, but nothing comes close to playing for a country.”
“So, the kid kept fighting and probably even in the future will keep fighting inside. The person knows it, knew it that this is it, but it wasn’t easy,”
Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement on his X (Twitter) account by posting a video.

I'd like to say something… pic.twitter.com/xwXbDi95WV
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) May 16, 2024

All About Sunil Chhetri’s Life, Achievements, and Stats

Sunil Chhetri was born in Secunderabad, Telangana, India, on 3rd August 1984, in a Kshatriya family. His father, K.B. Chhetri, was a mechanical engineer in the Indian Army and also played football for the Indian Army football team. He married to Sonam Bhattacharya who is the daughter of Subrata Bhattacharya.

Sunil’s mother, Sushila Chhetri, is a former Nepal Women’s National Team football player alongside his sisters. Sunil Chhetri did his schooling in Darjeeling, but later, he started his professional football journey in 2001 when he played for City Club Delhi. In 2002, Mohun Bagan signed him as a professional footballer.

From 2002 to 2005, he played 18 matches for the Mohun Bagan team, scoring 8 goals. In 2005, he signed for JCT, the team that turned things around for him, scoring 22 goals. In 2008, he signed for East Bengal, but the biggest offer he got was in 2012 when he signed for Sporting CP B.

However, he even got to play for QPR and Celtic but failed to sign because he did not get a work permit. He even played against Manchester United in a friendly match with the Kansas City Wizards. In 2013, Sunil signed for Bengaluru, and right now, he is still playing for them, scoring 61 goals in 154 matches.

Sunil Chhetri’s Career for the Indian Football Team

On June 12th, 2005, Sunil Chhetri made his debut for the Senior Indian Football Team and scored the goal in that match against Pakistan. Since then, he has kept scoring for the Indian team, and now he is the fourth-highest goal scorer in the International circuit. He scored 94 goals in 150 appearances for the team, which is an amazing achievement for the club.

Sunil Chhetri was honored with many awards, including the Arjuna Award in 2011, the Padma Shri Award in 2019, and in 2021, he received the Khel Ratna Award.