Sunil Chhetri Retirement: The match between India and Kuwait in the qualifiers of FIFA World Cup 2026 ended in a 0-0 draw. This match was played at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and this was the last match of India’s captain Sunil Chhetri’s career. It was necessary for India to win this match to reach the final-18 stage. India can still go to the next stage, but it will have to depend on other matches. After the match ended, other players honored Chhetri, but during this he also became emotional. India got many chances to score goals in the first and second half, but India could not capitalize on any of the chances. India’s next match will be against Qatar on June 11.
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The Indian captain was seen trying to penetrate Kuwait’s defense regularly, but all his attempts proved unsuccessful till the last minute. One of the major reasons for the match being a draw was that the Indian team’s defense looked weak on many occasions, due to which Kuwait came very close to scoring a goal many times. In the attacking department, the Indian team once again appeared to be largely dependent on Sunil Chhetri. Well, after the match ended, about 58,000 people at the Salt Lake Stadium also gave him a standing ovation.
Guard of honor received from fellow players
Although India’s match with Kuwait ended in a draw, everyone’s eyes were on Sunil Chhetri. The entire Indian squad also gave him a guard of honour, but this moment made him emotional. Sunil could not control his tears and was seen wiping them with his jersey.
94 goals scored in career
Sunil Chhetri played 151 matches in his international football career, in which he scored 94 goals. Sunil is also the player who has scored the most number of hat-tricks (4) for the Indian team in the history till date. Chhetri is the fourth highest goal scorer in the world in international football. Above him in this list are Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (128), Iran’s Ali Daei (108) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (106).
