Sunil Chhetri
Sunil Chhetri is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru. He is the all-time top scorer in ISL history, the fourth-highest international goalscorer, and the most-capped player and all-time top goalscorer of the India national team. He is widely regarded as the greatest Indian football player.
Chhetri began his professional career at Mohun Bagan in 2002, moving to JCT where he scored 21 goals in 48 games. Sunil was part of Delhi team in the 59th edition of Santosh Trophy held at Delhi. He scored six goals in that tournament including a hat-trick against Gujarat. Delhi lost to Kerala in the quarter-finals and he scored in that match too. He signed for Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards in 2010, becoming the third player from the subcontinent of note to go abroad. He returned to India's I-League where he played for Chirag United and Mohun Bagan before going back abroad, at Sporting CP of the Primeira Liga, where he played for the club's reserve side.
Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which qualified them to their first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years, scoring twice in the final tournament in 2011. In 2016, Chhetri led Bengaluru FC to a silver medal finish in the AFC Cup. Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year a record seven times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018–19 and 2021–22.
Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Padma Shri award in 2019, India's fourth highest civilian award. In 2021, he received the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honor and became the first footballer to receive the award. He announced his retirement from all forms of international football in June 2024, playing his last match for India against Kuwait. On 6 March 2025 though, it was announced that Chhetri had come out of international retirement to help the national team.
His goal tally also ranks him fourth in the all-time list among international goal-scorers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ali Daei.
Club career
City Club Delhi
Sunil Chhetri started his career with City Club, a local club based in Delhi and joined them during the 2001–02 season. He represented the club in 2002 Durand Cup where although his team failed to qualify for quarterfinal stage, Chhetri made an appearance in four games and scored a goal. He was named one of the five promising players of the tournament. He was spotted by Mohun Bagan during the tournament who called him to Kolkata for a trial and he went for trial just after joining City Club two months ago.Mohun Bagan
Chhetri began his professional football journey with Mohun Bagan of the National Football League where he signed his first professional contract after a week trial. After his first season with the club, the 2002–03 season, Chhetri had scored four goals as Mohun Bagan finished in seventh place in the table. The next season, Chhetri scored only two goals. The first came against Sporting Goa while the second came against Indian Bank as Mohun Bagan once again finished in the bottom half of the table, in ninth place. In 2004–05 season, He scored a hattrick against Tollygunge Agragami where he came as a substitute in a 4–0 win.; this time Mohun Bagan finished eighth in the league and remained in the National Football League on goal difference.JCT
In 2005, Chhetri signed for JCT for the 2005–06 season. During that season, Chhetri scored three goals. He scored twice against Salgaocar before the third came against Sporting Goa, as JCT finished the season that year in sixth place. Meanwhile, in the Santosh Trophy, Chhetri scored two hat-tricks for Delhi in the group stages of the 61st Santosh Trophy against both Orissa and Railways. However, despite Chhetri's best efforts, Delhi were eliminated in the pre-quarter final round after losing 1–0 to Tamil Nadu in extra time.Then, during the 2006–07 season, Chhetri scored a total of twelve goals in the league for JCT as the club finished in second place, behind Dempo. Among his best games during that season were the matches against his former club Mohun Bagan and Dempo in which he scored braces in both matches as JCT won both games 2–0 and 3–2 respectively.
He made his I-League debut on 26 November 2007 in an upset 2–1 victory over his former club Mohun Bagan. Then, during the very first season of the I-League, Chhetri scored seven goals as JCT finished the season in third place. His only brace that season came against Salgaocar during the final match of the season. Midway through that season though, in December 2007, Chhetri was awarded the AIFF Player of the Year award for 2007 for his excellent form and performances for his club and country.
Interest abroad
In October 2008, it was rumored that Chhetri had sparked interest from foreign clubs. These clubs were Leeds United of the Football League One and Estoril Praia of the Liga de Honra, the second division of Portugal. During an interview Chhetri said that "Nothing has been confirmed as yet but yes, I think I am close to getting there." indicating that there was a chance of him signing in England. However, in the end, a move never materialized.East Bengal
Before the 2008–09 season began, Chhetri signed with fellow I-League side East Bengal. He scored on his debut for East Bengal against Chirag United on 26 September 2008 in which he scored in the 28th minute as East Bengal won the match 3–1.Chhetri then went on to score a crucial goal for East Bengal during the Federation Cup in which he scored the only goal against his former club, JCT, which led to East Bengal booking a place in the semi-finals. During the semi-final match, East Bengal took on arch-rivals and another of Sunil's former clubs, Mohun Bagan, in which he missed the decisive penalty in the penalty shootout as East Bengal were officially knocked-out of the tournament.
Midway through the season though, reports came out suggesting that two Major League Soccer teams were interesting in Chhetri, along with his international teammate Steven Dias. These two MLS sides were rumored to be the Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United. However, on 25 January 2009, Chhetri arrived in Coventry, England to begin a trial at Coventry City of the Football League Championship, thus rejecting MLS. Four days later though, Coventry City manager Chris Coleman said that they would not be following their interest in Chhetri. Four months later though, Chhetri said that he would go back to Coventry City in June 2009 for another extended trial. That never materialized however.
Dempo
Upon being released by East Bengal, Chhetri signed a two-year contract with another fellow I-League side, Dempo on 22 May 2009. In his contract was a clause which allowed him to leave for trials abroad in the future if he wanted to.More foreign interest
On 7 August 2009 it was reported that Scottish Premier League side Celtic were linked with a move to sign Chhetri. The Scottish club had watched Chhetri during a pre-season friendly with Santboià, a Segunda División B side, in a pre-season fixture. Yogesh Joshee, Chhetri's agent, was quoted as saying, "I'm waiting to get feedback from Celtic, who saw him on Monday by head scout and then another scout came to watch game, I'll let you know the outcome when I know."Then on 30 August 2009 it was announced by the Hindustan Times that Chhetri had signed a three-year contract with English Football League Championship side Queens Park Rangers but that he was denied a work permit by the British government. According to an article on the Football Players' Association of India's official website, Chhetri was denied a work permit because India were not in the top 70 of the FIFA World Rankings. Chhetri, however, remained positive: "But it's not the end of the world. I will still continue to work hard for my country and my club Dempo, who have been very supportive."
Chhetri made his debut for Dempo against Air India on 14 September in a Durand Cup fixture, scoring a penalty in a 4–1 win.
Kansas City
In March 2010 it was announced that Chhetri was on trial with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer and that he had played during their pre-season games. He then formally signed for the team on 24 March 2010, becoming just the third Indian to play outside of South Asia and the first Indian to play in MLS. Peter Vermes, the head coach of the Wizards, was quoted as saying "One thing we really like about Sunil is that he's a crafty player. Technically he's very sharp, and he's a guy that has good attacking tendencies."On 4 April 2010, he scored a hat-trick in Kansas City Wizards’ reserves 5–0 victory over Evansville. On 14 April 2010, Chhetri made his debut for the Wizards in a U.S. Open Cup qualification play-in game against the Colorado Rapids. He started but earned a yellow card and was substituted out of the game at half-time; Kansas City lost the match 1–2. On 23 July 2010, it was announced that Chhetri would play in a mid-season friendly against Manchester United. The decision was criticised as a public relations exercise rather than one made on merit, as he had not yet played a league match. On 25 July 2010, Chhetri made an appearance for the Wizards against Manchester United, coming on as a substitute for Teal Bunbury in the 69th minute as Kansas City won the match 2–1.
The next day, it was announced that Chhetri was to compete for the India national team until the end of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The Wizards announced on 5 February 2011 that Chhetri had officially left the team.