Sunil Chhetri reached yet another milestone in the final of SAFF Championship 2021 as he equalled Lionel Messi's tally of 80 international goals and became the joint second-highest active international goalscorer in the world behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
After scoring a brace against Maldives which helped the Blue Tigers secure a final berth, Chhetri once again was on target for India as they clinched their record eighth SAFF Championship title, beating Nepal 3-0 in the final. He bagged the Golden Boot award as well, scoring five goals in five matches in the tournament and was also given the Most Valuable Player award.