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Indian footballing icon <keyword id="20013715" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunil-Chhetri" source="keywords">Sunil Chhetri</keyword> has announced his retirement from <keyword id="21679901" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="international-football" source="keywords">international football</keyword>, marking the end of an illustrious two-decade journey. The revered captain shared the news through a heartfelt video on his social media handles on Thursday. <keyword id="20306461" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chhetri" source="keywords">Chhetri</keyword> will bid his farewell after India's <keyword id="20041016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIFA-World-Cup" source="keywords">FIFA World Cup</keyword> qualifying match against Kuwait on June 6, taking place in Kolkata—the city where his national team journey commenced 19 years ago in 2005. Reflecting on his decision, Chhetri expressed: “The moment I told myself first, that yes, this is the game that is going to be my last, is when I started recollecting everything. “It was so strange, I started thinking about this game, that game, this coach, that coach, that team, that member, that ground, that away match, this good game, that bad game, all my individual performances, everything came, all the flashes came. So when I did decide that this is it, this is going to be my last game.” <div type="twitter" handle="chetrisunil11" handlename="chetrisunil11" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1790953336901976541"></div> With 94 goals to his name, Sunil Chhetri will retire as India's leading goal scorer and most-capped player. The 39-year-old forward also ranks third among active international goal-scorers worldwide, trailing only football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Chhetri's milestone 150th appearance for India came in March this year, where he found the net against Afghanistan in Guwahati. However, despite his goal, India suffered a 1-2 defeat in that match. Currently positioned second in Group A with four points from four games, India's upcoming clash against Kuwait carries immense significance. A victory is imperative to remain in contention for a spot in the World Cup Qualifiers Round 3, especially considering India faces a tougher test against Qatar in their final group stage encounter. Only the top two teams will advance to the next round.

Sunil Chhetri, who trails only Ronaldo and Messi on international goal-scoring charts, announces retirement

The Indian men's football team faces a do-or-die encounter with reigning Asian champions Qatar in their final Group A match of the <keyword id="3711881" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIFA-World-Cup-2026" source="Orion">FIFA World Cup 2026</keyword> <keyword id="22015291" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AFC-qualifiers" source="keywords">AFC qualifiers</keyword>. This decisive clash will take place at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday, and the stakes couldn't be higher for India. Compounding the challenge, India will be without their talismanic striker <keyword id="20013715" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunil-Chhetri" source="keywords">Sunil Chhetri</keyword>, who retired from international football following a goalless draw against Kuwait last week. With Chhetri's departure, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will step up to captain the team in Doha. For India, the outcome of the match against Qatar will be crucial in keeping their hopes of advancing to the FIFA World Cup 2026 alive. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How can India qualify for the third round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers?" comment="subhead" text="How can India qualify for the third round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers?">How can India qualify for the third round of <keyword id="20983702" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIFA-World-Cup-2026-qualifiers" source="keywords">FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers</keyword>?</cmsannotation> To progress to the third round of the qualifiers, India needs to secure a top-two finish in Group A. Current standings show Qatar sitting comfortably at the top with 13 points, having already secured a place in the next round. India, with five points from as many games, is second, holding a narrow lead over Afghanistan based on goal difference. Kuwait trails closely with four points. In the final round of fixtures, India, Afghanistan and Kuwait all have a shot at claiming the second spot. While India faces the formidable task of beating Qatar, Kuwait will host Afghanistan in a parallel match that also carries significant implications. For the Indian team, the clearest path to the next round is a win against Qatar, which would raise their points tally to eight. However, achieving this would be a colossal challenge given India’s position at 121st in the FIFA rankings compared to Qatar's 34th. Afghanistan could also reach eight points if they secure a victory over Kuwait, but they would need to win by at least eight goals to overcome India’s goal difference—a scenario that is highly improbable. A defeat against Qatar would extinguish India’s chances of advancing, directly relegating them to the third round of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. This would shift their focus from World Cup qualification to continental competition. A draw against Qatar would take India’s points tally to six. In this case, they would need the Kuwait vs Afghanistan match to also end in a draw to maintain their second-place position based on goal difference. A win for either Afghanistan or Kuwait would see them surpass India in the standings, thus taking the second spot. It is important to note that securing a place in the third round of qualifiers would not guarantee India a direct spot in the FIFA World Cup 2026. However, it would provide Igor Stimac's squad multiple chances to qualify, while also ensuring direct entry to the AFC Asian Cup 2027 in Saudi Arabia. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Where to watch Qatar vs India live streaming?" comment="subhead" text="Where to watch Qatar vs India live streaming?">Where to watch <keyword id="8085522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Qatar-vs-India" source="Orion">Qatar vs India</keyword> live streaming?</cmsannotation> The Qatar vs India football match will kick off at 9:15 PM IST. It won’t be telecast on Indian television, but will be available for live streaming on the FanCode Application. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="India squad for the Qatar game" comment="subhead" text="India squad for the Qatar game">India squad for the Qatar game</cmsannotation> Manager Igor Stimac has readied the following 22-man squad for the crucial clash against Qatar: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (captain), Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith Defenders: Anwar Ali, Jay Gupta, Mehtab Singh, Narender, Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Edmund Lalrindika, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Liston Colaco, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Nandhakumar Sekar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Vikram Partap Singh, David Lalhlansanga

India vs Qatar: How can the Sunil Chhetri-less Indian team progress to the third round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers?

<ul><li>The cricket audience in India is around 612 million and makes up 90% of the country’s sports audience.</li><li>Football too has a 45% share of the sports audience of India, says a report by Ormax.</li><li>Wrestling, Hockey, Badminton, Athletics, Volleyball and Boxing also have over 100 million viewers. </li></ul>India is known for cricket and cricket is known to almost the entirety of the Indian audience. And, why not? Around half of Indians — 612 million — are glued to the 22 players on the field. In a refreshing development, however, a recent report by Ormax indicates that the sports audience in India goes beyond cricket. While cricket does get more than the lion’s share i.e., 90% of the 678 million sports audience, others are gaining ground too. Football audiences have grown to a whopping 305 million in India, which is a 45% share of the total sports viewers. Kabaddi also has garnered around 280 million viewers now. Wrestling or WWE, Hockey, Badminton, Athletics, Volleyball and Boxing — all have over 100 million viewers, says The Ormax Sports Audience Report: 2024. Car racing, with 97 million viewers, almost made the cut. A growing pie The report defines 'Sports Audience’ as someone who watched sports content on TV or OTT in the last year for at least 30 minutes. “With an increase in digital consumption, TV viewership is no longer an accurate way of estimating sports consumption in a large and heterogeneous country like India. This report is a part of our initiative to build industry data using primary audience research across various categories,” said <keyword id="21026798" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shailesh-kapoor" source="keywords">Shailesh Kapoor</keyword>, founder &amp; CEO of Ormax Media. Viacom 18 had bagged the television as well as digital rights to the national cricket team’s bilateral matches. Jio Cinema also streamed Cricket World Cup 2023 for free — increasing the digital viewers of the matches manifold, last year. Franchise with the ‘most recall’ The Ormax report also picked the sports franchises with the most recall. Chennai Super Kings bagged the most recalled franchise in cricket, followed by Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, <keyword id="19905155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajasthan-royals" source="keywords">Rajasthan Royals</keyword>, and Kolkata Knight Riders. In football, the franchise with the most recall was Manchester United. In Kabaddi, Patna Pirates took up the top spot. Cricket, however, does rule the roost when it comes to India’s most favourite sports stars. <keyword id="19907934" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli" source="keywords">Virat Kohli</keyword> is the most popular sportsperson in India, while <keyword id="19899524" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ms-dhoni" source="keywords">MS Dhoni</keyword> is ranked second, despite having retired from professional cricket. <keyword id="19899523" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rohit-sharma" source="keywords">Rohit Sharma</keyword> came in third and <keyword id="19919207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sachin-tendulkar" source="keywords">Sachin Tendulkar</keyword> came in fifth. The fourth and sixth sports however went to international football stars — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra came in seventh, and footballer <keyword id="20013715" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sunil-chhetri" source="keywords">Sunil Chhetri</keyword> came in eighth amongst India’s favourite sports stars.

Not ‘just cricket’, football and kabbadi getting eyeballs too

It was in the early <a href="https://www.the-aiff.com/article/indian-football-down-the-years-looking-back-at-the-glorious-moments">1950s </a>that newly free India went up against Iran on the <keyword id="64" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="football" source="Orion">football</keyword> court in the inaugural Asian Games and bagged its first gold medal. Later, the country participated in the Olympics and other Asian Games, and also formed a team for women in 1980, grabbing many shiny medals along the way. <div type="image" title="India in action at the 1956 Olympics - AIFF" msid="93647037" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;India in action at the 1956 Olympics - AIFF &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> For the first time ever in football’s history, India has been suspended by the International Federation of Association Football (<keyword id="57149" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="fifa" source="Orion">FIFA</keyword>). <keyword id="57299" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="All-India-Football-Federation" source="Orion">All India Football Federation</keyword> (<keyword id="50985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AIFF" source="Orion">AIFF</keyword>) has also been stripped of its right to host the 2022 junior Women's World Cup. The Under-17 Women’s World Cup was scheduled to be held across Odisha, Goa and Maharashtra in October this year. Many first-time participants, who have been training for years, are now feeling uncertain about their future. <div type="image" title="Under-17 Women’s World Cup team" msid="93647050" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Under-17 Women&amp;#8217;s World Cup team&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The ban could still be lifted if a few conditions are met but what led to AIFF’s suspension? Why has FIFA suspended AIFF? The governing body of world football announced the suspension citing the "undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes”. The suspension is effective from August 14, 2022 until further notice, according to a letter from Fatma Samoura, Secretary General, FIFA. This will affect India’s international participation. The troubles began when former AIFF president Praful Patel who was also a FIFA council member, refused to resign from his post as the head of football in the country after his tenure of three years ended in December 2020. Patel is also a member of the Nationalist Congress Party. <div type="image" title="Praful Patel&amp;#39;s tenure ended in December 2020" msid="93647079" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Praful Patel&amp;#39;s tenure ended in December 2020&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> FIFA’s rules state that its member federations must be free from legal and political interference. FIFA’s Article 19 also states that each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties. A member association’s bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association. A member association’s statutes shall provide for a democratic procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment. <div type="image" title="Timeline of what led to AIFF’s ban" msid="93647104" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt; Timeline of what led to AIFF&amp;#8217;s ban &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> After Patel’s resistance to resigning, AIFF did not hold fresh elections. The matter then went to the Supreme Court, which announced the immediate resignation of Patel and formed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the AIFF and govern the sport. It appointed Justice (retired) Anil R Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr S.Y. Quraishi and former India captain Bhaskar Ganguly to the CoA. <div type="image" title="Supreme Court formed a three-member Committee of Administrators" msid="93647115" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Supreme Court formed a three-member Committee of Administrators&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> FIFA directed CoA to get new elections underway, finalise the constitution and present it to FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). India is not the only country India is not the first country to be suspended by FIFA. In 2021, Pakistan Football Federation was banned temporarily due to the same violations. The ban was lifted last month. Zimbabwe, Kenya, Chad, Benin, Kuwait, Nigeria and Iraq have also been at the receiving end of FIFA’s wrath. How will it affect India? Both male and female players won’t be able to participate in international tournaments till the ban is lifted, which includes the 2023 Asian Cup. In June, India’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri said a ban would be “catastrophic” for the country and him. “No matter what is happening on that front, I hope it is under control and the country does not get a ban. Because, that will be catastrophic, not just for the whole country but for me, because I’m 37. I’m playing my last games. You never know when there’s a last game for you,” said Chhetri. Indian professional football club based in Calicut, Gokulam Kerala, has already found itself stranded in Uzbekistan after the FIFA suspension. The team was scheduled to play at the AFC Women's Club Championship. On August 18, SC asked the centre to take a proactive role and ensure that India is able to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup in October. The men’s team is also scheduled to play Singapore and Vietnam in September and India’s participation in SAFF Women's Championship next month also looks uncertain. The suspension has not only dampened the morale of players who have been training for years, but it has also disappointed fans who were looking forward to watching the tournament live. The sport is watched by more than 23 million people, says a recent report by Ormax Media. Will the suspension be lifted? The suspension will be lifted once the AIFF administration regains full control of their daily affairs, which means no CoA. FIFA has also told India to form an independent electoral committee. Till then, as far as Indian footballers are concerned, it’s a wait-and-watch game. Here's a small video <div type="image" title="Why has FIFA banned All India Football Federation?" msid="93647172" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Why has FIFA banned All India Football Federation?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

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Sunil Chhetri, who trails only Ronaldo and Messi on international goal-scoring charts, announces retirement

Kunal Kambli

India vs Qatar: How can the Sunil Chhetri-less Indian team progress to the third round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers?

Kunal Kambli

Not ‘just cricket’, football and kabbadi getting eyeballs too

Katya Naidu

Simply put: Why has FIFA banned India and how will it impact India’s football industry?

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