'Retiring As A Legend': FIFA Pays Huge Tribute To Sunil Chhetri; Did You Know He's Only Behind Ronaldo & Messi On This Elite List?

India captain Sunil Chhetri on Thursday announced his retirement from international football after the game against Kuwait next month.

The 39-year-old football legend will bring down the curtains on a glorious career which started in 2004 as a young 20-year-old who went on to become India's leading goal-scorer and most-capped player of all time.

Chhetri took to social media to announce his upcoming farewell match which will be played in Kolkata on June 6.

Football's governing body lauds Chhetri

A few hours later, FIFA paid tribute to Chhetri with a picture which broke the internet last year when they first posted it in 2022 on social media.

The picture is that of Chhetri, with folded hands, standing on the third position on a podium with Cristiano Ronaldo on top and Lionel Messi in second place.

Football's world governing body had first posted this picture when they had released a documentary on Chhetri to commemorate his glorious career for India.

They reposted that picture once again to pay tribute to Chhetri with the caption reading, "retiring as a legend".

One of India's greatest

Chhetri is the third highest active goal-scorer in international football after Ronaldo and Messi.

The Portugal captain leads the list with 128 goals from 206 matches, followed by Argentina skipper Messi (106 goals) and Chhetri with 94. The India captain is fourth on the all-time list of scorers with Iran's retired legend Ali Daei holding second position with 108 goals.