Watch: Sunil Chhetri scores 94th career goal in milestone appearance during India-Afghanistan World Cup Qualifier

Sunil Chhetri made his 150th appearance for India all the more memorable by scoring from the spot to give India the lead in the first half of their FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifying match against Afghanistan in Guwahati.

India were awarded a penalty shortly after the half-hour mark following a handball offence by Afghanistan’s Haroon Amiri, and calmly converted from the spot by firing the ball past opposition goalkeeper Ovays Azizi despite the latter diving to his right, leading to a massive roar from the crowd at Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.

Watch the goal here:

Sunil Chhetri’s penalty goal from the Stands! 🫡 https://t.co/e5wYLEzeiR

— Blue Pilgrims 🇮🇳 (@BluePilgrims) March 26, 2024

It was the talismanic Indian striker and captain’s 94th goal for the ‘Blue Tigers’ and his first international goal in a long time. Chhetri also holds the distinction of having scored in each of his milestone appearances — his 1st match followed by his 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th and now in his 150th appearance.

He currently remains third on the all-time list of international goal-scorers among active players, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (128) and Lionel Messi (106).

Chhetri’s goal, however, would ultimately go in vain as Afghanistan fought back valiantly in the second half, with Rahmat Akbari and Sharif Mukhammad scoring in the last 20 minutes of the game to silence the Guwahati crowd and help the Afghans clinch the tie 2-1.

Chhetri had earlier been felicitated by the All India Football Federation for his milestone appearance.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, Assam Football Association secretary Sangrang Brahma, AIFF’s technical committee chairperson IM Vijayan were among the dignitaries who presented mementos to India captain Chhetri before the start of the match at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.

Chhetri, 39, first donned the senior national jersey on June 12, 2005, in a friendly match against Pakistan in Quetta.

He was India’s scorer in the 1-1 draw. Since then, he has made 149 appearances for the national team, netting a record 93 goals.

With PTI inputs