Sunil Chhetri’s retirement U-turn explained by India head coach Manolo Marquez | Football News

India football great Sunil Chhetri will be adding to his record 151 international caps when India face Bangladesh in the third round of qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 on March 25. The 40-year-old, who called time on his prolific international career last year, has reversed his retirement and was included in India head coach Manolo Marquez’s team list of 26 players for the March FIFA international window.

Marquez has stated that he had discussed with Chhetri about potentially making a comeback with an important run of matches coming up for the Indian team. “The qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial for us. Given the importance of the tournament and the matches ahead, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about making a comeback to strengthen the national team. He agreed, and so we have included him in the squad,” he is quoted as saying in the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) statement.

India play a friendly match against Maldives on March 19 in preparation for the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers Final Round against Bangladesh on March 25. Both matches will be played in Shillong. India have been placed in a qualifying group alongside Bangladesh, Hong Kong, and Singapore for the Asian Cup. In the tournament’s previous edition, India had a disappointing run, failing to progress past the group stage after losing all their matches.

Chhetri made his debut in 2005 and retired last year as one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time in international football. His 94 goals in 151 appearances puts him well ahead of everyone else in the list of India’s all-time highest goalscorers. Only Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo (135), Argentina great Lionel Messi (112) and Iran’s Ali Daei (108)have netted more often than Chhetri has in men’s international football. The 40-year-old thus has the chance now to become just the fourth player to score 100 goals for their country.