Sunil Chhetri is India’s leading goalscorer of all time, by a margin. He’s also the second-highest-scoring Asian and third-highest-scoring active men’s player in the world. He’s scored so many goals that he’s now just eight goals away from 100 international goals for India.

Yeah, one hundred.

If he does get there, he will be only the fourth man to do so in international football. And if you’re a fan, the good thing is that he shows no signs of slowing down — he’s scored seven in his last nine internationals. He’ll turn 39 by the time India take the field next, but as the SAFF Championship golden boot showed, there’s little doubting Chhetri’s prowess.

Now, even if he were to retire from the stage after the AFC Asian Cup — he has (at least) nine more matches to play to score the eight goals that would get him the century. India could also play a couple of friendlies in the build-up to the Asian Cup…

So, who do India play next, and just how good are the captain’s chances to get to 100?

King’s Cup | Number of Matches: 2

Chhetri scored one of India’s only two goals when they played the King’s Cup last time in 2019 – a penalty against Curacao in a game that India lost 3-1. India are guaranteed to play two games at the tournament, which involves hosts Thailand, Lebanon and Iraq. Chhetri’s no stranger to finding the net against two of those three teams, having scored three times against Lebanon in his career, and twice against Thailand – both of those coming in the famous 4-1 win at the 2019 Asian Cup. Remember that one?

However, Iraq will prove to be a different kettle of fish. They are seventh amongst AFC nations in the latest FIFA rankings and have been a regular at further rounds of World Cup qualifications and Asian Cups in the last few editions, so it might prove to be a game of few chances for India and Chhetri if they end up facing the West Asian nation.

Merdeka Tournament | Number of Matches: 2

If you’re counting the goals down towards the century, this is the tournament you should be eyeing the most. Malaysia, Palestine and Lebanon make up the rest of the field – all sides ranked in and around or lower than India at the moment. Chhetri has scored once in two games against Palestine and twice in three games against Malaysia as well.

Chhetri will tell you he never has eyes on numbers and milestones, and he’s probably right, but you can rest assured, he will be eyeing multiple goals and wins at this tournament as a realistic proposition.

2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Second Round | Number of Matches: 2

India play the opening two matches of their World Cup qualifiers, for which the draw will happen later this month. With these two matches in November potentially being against two sides ranked lower than India, there’s once again a chance for the team’s goal-scorer to do what he does best.

Chhetri’s grace, Gurpreet’s poker-face inspire India to SAFF champion’s place

At least one of the two games India play in November will be at home as well. Imagine that, potentially getting to the century at his home for the last decade, the Kanteerava… Well, it costs nothing to dream, at the very least.

AFC Asian Cup | Number of Matches: 3

India’s draw for the Asian Cup is a bit of a nightmare. Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria all have a history of being defensively solid teams and have consistently been mixing it with the continent’s best at the highest level of competition. It has shades of the 2011 Asian Cup when India were drawn with Australia, South Korea, and Bahrain. But even then, with what was objectively an inferior Indian team to this one, Chhetri scored twice.

If a 39-year-old Chhetri manages to even match his 2011 and 2019 tally of two goals at the Asian Cup, it will be a stupendous achievement, considering the magnitude of the task that faces him and his team in Qatar.

Friendlies | Number of Matches: None confirmed yet

Igor Stimac has made his demand already. He wants at least a month of training with the players before India’s Asian Cup opener against Australia in Al Rayyan. Before the last Asian Cup, India had three weeks of training, and that included one friendly against Oman.

Will we have just one more friendly this time? Does Stimac wish to put his players through more rigorous tests before the biggest of them all? Time will tell, but if Chhetri is indeed done with international football after the Asian Cup, you should keep an eye on these friendlies too, as every additional opportunity counts in potentially making it to 100.

The odds may not be in his favour. He needs almost a goal a game to get there by the end of the Asian Cup. But as ever, don’t put it past him. He has a habit of doing things nobody gives him a chance of doing.

One hundred, who could’ve dreamt? Well, now India is dreaming.