Indian football records: Players with most goals, hat-tricks, appearances and more

Indian football has a long list of outstanding players with remarkable records and achievements.

Defender Gostha Pal was the first Indian captain of the Indian national team during colonial times. Pal led the nation in the 1920s and 1930s and was also the captain during its maiden international tour to Sri Lanka (erstwhile Ceylon) in 1924. The team travelling to Ceylon, however, consisted of both Indian and British players.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) was formed in 1937, which eventually succeeded the Indian Football Association (IFA) as football’s governing body in the country. IFA was formed in 1893 and ran the game before AIFF was born. Gradually, the Indian football teams started to feature only Indian players.

India’s first-ever football match after independence came against France at the 1948 London Olympics. Talimeren Ao captained India in the match and Sarangapani Raman scored the first goal for the Indian football team. India, however, lost that match 2-1.

Indian football’s golden era arrived a couple of years later under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim, who guided India to gold medals at the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962. He also helped India to a fourth-place finish at the Melbourne 1956 Olympics and is among the longest serving football coaches for India.

Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Neville D'Souza and Peter Thangaraj, who were the core members of the Indian football team in the 1950s and 1960s, are prominent names who still feature in various India’s all-time football records list.

Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan, the iconic Indian striking pair from the late 1990s, also have multiple noteworthy accomplishments.

Former captain Sunil Chhetri also holds multiple Indian football records.

Here’s a look at Indian football records

Highest goal-scorer in Indian football

India’s Captain Fantastic, Sunil Chhetri stands as India’s all-time top goal-scorer. He is the only Indian to have scored more than 50 goals and stands fourth in the list of most prolific goal-scorers in international football.

Most appearances by a player for Indian football team

Sunil Chettri is India’s most-capped player. He made his international debut for India against Pakistan in 2005 and in 2018, he became the only the second Indian player in history to play 100 international matches after Bhaichung Bhutia. He retired with 151 caps to his name and is the only Indian footballer to have made over 150 international appearances.

Goalkeepers with most clean sheets for India

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who is India’s first-choice custodian at the time of writing, is the only Indian footballer to have more than 20 clean sheets in his career. His predecessor Subrata Paul features second on the list.

Longest winning streak of Indian football team

The Indian men’s football team produced its longest winning streak of seven matches between 1962 to 1964. The streak began with a 4-1 win over Thailand at 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta and ended with a 2-0 win over the Republic of Korea in the AFC Asian Cup in 1964.

Most hat-tricks for Indian football team

India’s most prolific goal-scorer Sunil Chhetri, with four hat-tricks, also leads the list of Indians to have scored the most hat-tricks for the national team. 

R Lumsden, a British Indian, was the first to score a hat-trick for the Indian national team in India’s 4-5 loss against Australia during a friendly match in 1938. Sheoo Mewalal became the first Indian player after independence to net a hat-trick when he scored three in India’s 4-0 win over Burma in 1952 Colombo Cup.

Neville D'Souza struck three at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in India’s 4-2 win against Australia to become the first Asian footballer to score a hat-trick at the Olympics.

Longest-serving coach in Indian football

Former English player Stephen Constantine coached the Indian football team in two different stints. He managed the Indian team from 2002 to 2005 and then again from 2015 to 2019. He was succeeded by former Croatian international and current Indian coach Igor Stimac.

However, Syed Abdul Rahim, a former India player, is considered as the most successful Indian coach in history. He guided the Indian national team to two Asian Games gold medals and a fourth-place finish at the Olympics between 1950 to 1963.