India national football team will begin their FIFA World Cup 2026-AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifying process on November 16, 2023, with an away tie against Kuwait. The Blue Tigers will also play Qatar and Afghanistan - each team, including Kuwait, twice - over the next nine months, aiming to finish in one of the top two spots in their group. Should they be triumphant in their quest, Igor Stimac's men will progress to the FIFA World Cup 2026 AFC Third Round and secure a berth in the Asian Cup 2027 finals. Failure, however, will not be the end of the road for India; they will, instead, drop into the Asian Cup Third Round Qualifying, given another chance to advance to the continent's main event. (Streaming | Full Coverage)
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Thirty-nine years old at the time of writing, Sunil Chhetri, nonetheless, will be India's go-to main against Kuwait - and indeed the remainder of the qualifiers. An Indian international since 2005, Chhetri will earn his 144th international cap should he appear in any juncture of the match against Kuwait. He will be looking for his 94th international goal when the teams meet at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium on Thursday night, 10 PM IST.
Chhetri, unquestionably, will have one eye on the list of top-scoring international football players. The Indian skipper has earned admiration the world over in recent years, courtesy of his constant upward trajectory through a scroll of legendary players who did, and continued to do, remarkable things. The 39-year-old is currently fourth on the list, behind eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, Iranian football royalty Ali Daei, and the higest-scoring international player in history, Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Chhetri will start the match 13 goals behind Lionel Messi, whose 106 strikes in 178 matches - at a rate of a goal every other game - place the Argentinian in third-place on the podium. Two goals ahead of Messi, IR Iran's Daei stands firm; Daei's record survived the test of time before he ultimately surrendered it to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal international, however, is in a league of his own. His 127 goals in 203 appearances seem near-insurmountable, with Chhetri looking at a 34-goal-gap to cover.
Time, though, is running out for the Indian international - by his own account. Chhetri admitted as much in a recent interview, confirming that he is nearing the end of a glorious career.
