India's 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Afghanistan was a special match for Sunil Chhetri as the Indian football icon was felicitated by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for appearing in his 150th international game.
Chhetri marked the occasion with a goal from the spot in the 37th minute. This was his 94th international goal and he remains third on the list of goal-scorers among active players.
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, Assam Football Association secretary Sangrang Brahma, AIFF's technical committee chairperson I.M. Vijayan were among the dignitaries who presented mementoes 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.
A prolific goal-getter, Chhetri holds the unique record of scoring at least one goal in his first, 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th and 125th match for the Blue Tigers.
However, the match didn't end the way he would liked it to as two second-half goals by Afghanistan meant that they beat India 2-1.
Rahmat Akbari scored the equaliser and Sharif Mukhammad capitalised on a mistake from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to clinch the victory for Afghanistan.
The loss left Chhetri in tears as both goals were conceded when he was off the field. India has now lost 5 and won none in their last 6 matches. They hadn't scored a single goal before this game in the last 5 matches.