Sunil Chhetri had a near-perfect day against Bangladesh in the AFC Asian Cup/FIFA World Cup qualifier as India captain’s brace helped get the much-awaited win for the Blue Tigers on Monday at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha. The two goals from Chhetri also helped him climb up the list of the highest individual international active goal-scorer list.
He now has 74 goals and during the game against Bangladesh, he edged past UAE’s Ali Mabkhout who has 73 goals to his name.
With the two goals, not only did Chhetri climb to the second spot but is now only behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo – who has 103 international goals to his name. He is leading the active goal-scorer list by a fair distance. Hailed as one of the greatest players to0 have played the game, Ronaldo could add to his tally in the upcoming Euro 2020. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has 72 international goals in 143 appearances for Argentina.
Chhetri scored his first goal in the 79th-minute of the match. It was also the goal that broke the stalemate. In the added time after the 90th-minute, Chhetri scored his brace that which doubled India’s lead.
The Blue Tigers registered their first win in exactly two years and still have a chance to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup in 2023. Igor Stimac’s men now have six points from seven matches in Group E and have jumped to third place ahead of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan takes on Oman on June 11 before facing India in the last game on June 15. It was also India’s first World Cup qualifiers win in six years. Its last win had come in November 2015, when it beat Guam 1-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifying round match.