Sunil Chhetri goes past Pele's international goals tally; one shy of equaling Lionel Messi

India men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri continues to create records as his brace put him past the legendary former Brazilian footballer Pele in the list of top international goalscorers.

Chhetri's two goals against the Maldives helped India to a 3-1 victory, steering the side to the final of the 2021 SAFF Championship.

The veteran Indian forward is the highest goalscorer in this edition of the tournament so far, with four goals in as many games.

He had equalized Pele in the side's game against Nepal, where his goal was the only difference between the two teams.

On Wednesday, India took on the Maldives in a do-or-die game in the tournament. With the score level at 1-1, Chhetri scored in the 62nd and 71st minute to give India a two-goal cushion, which eventually proved the difference.

Chhetri scored with a volley for the goal which gave India the lead, and then put a header into the top corner from a free-kick nine minutes later.

Brazilian legend Pele had scored 77 goals for the national side.

Among active international footballers, Chhetri is the third-highest goalscorer, only behind Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (115 goals) and Argentina's Lionel Messi (80 goals).

Player (* - currently active)	Country	Goals
Cristiano Ronaldo*	Portugal	115
Ali Daei	Iran	110
Mokhtar Dahari	Malaysia	89
Ferenc Puskas	Hungary	84
Lionel Messi*	Argentina	80
Godfrey Chitalu Sunil Chhetri*	Zambia India	79