India football great Chhetri comes out of retirement aged 40

MUMBAI: Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team aged 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang up his boots last year. The former captain, the fourth-highest men´s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.

Chhetri said last year that “instinct” told him the match against Kuwait should be his last and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata. But on Thursday, India head coach Manolo Marquez announced the return of India´s most-capped player for the March international window. India are out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and are now targeting the Asian Cup in 2027.