(Football news) Sunil Chhetri has now equalled Real Madrid and Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas goals scoring tally on the international level as the Indian football team captain became the joint highest goalscorer in international football history. Chhetri achieved this extraordinary feat during their AFC Asian Cup Qualifier clash against Hong Kong on Tuesday where he scored a brilliant goal to take his international goal tally to 84 goals.

Earlier in October 2021, Chhetri surpassed legendary football player Pele's record of 77 goals and now is currently hird on the list of active international goalscorers, just behind the goats of football behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi.Currently, Ronaldo is the highest goalscorer in international football with 117 goals, while Messi is in the fourth spot with a total of 86 goals but Sunil Chhetri isn’t far behind with 84 goals. Coming into the clash against Hong Kong, India knew that they would compete in the AFC Asian Cup in 2023 and wanted to put on a spectacle for the 48000 people who had come to the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata as they bagged a massive 4-0 win over Hong Kong in the final game of Group D. Anwar Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh and Ishan Pandita all were on the scoresheet for the Blue Tigers. It was the third win for Team India in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers after they had defeated Cambodia and Afghanistan.

Chhetri has scored the most goals against Nepal and Maldives. He has eight goals in six matches against the Maldives and against Nepal, Chhetri has netted eight goals after featuring in 12 matches. The Indian skipper also likes to play with the neighboring countries, finding the back of the net six times against Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei. The 37-year-old striker has scored five goals against Cambodia and Tajikistan. Chhetri played just two matches against Kenya but managed to score four goals against them. His record against Afghanistan is also good as he has needed seven matches to score four goals. The Indian skipper has three goals against Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam and Guam. Chhetri has two goals against countries like Syria, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman and Thailand.

Chhetri's break up of 84 goals ends with him scoring one goal against Sri Lanka, Bahrain, South Korea, Pakistan, Cameroon, Philippines, Palestine, Puerto Rico, Macao, New Zealand, Curacao and Hong Kong. India did get a 4-0 win against Hong Kong but their qualification for the AFC Asian Cup Finals was sealed before the match even started as Palestine’s victory against the Philippines in the Group B,helped the Blue Tigers in securing their berth in the Asian Cup. This was for the first time that India qualified for the AFC Asian Cup in back-to-back editions. Previously, India have now qualified for AFC Asian Cups in 2019, 2011, 1984, and 1964.

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