Chhetri trails Messi by four goals

India's Sunil Chhetri scored twice to take his international tally to 82 goals in a 2-0 win over Cambodia on Wednesday in Kolkata as Igor Stimac's side made a winning start to the third round of qualifying for next year's Asian Cup.

The 37-year-old India captain struck from the penalty spot in the 13th minute before powering a header past Cambodian goalkeeper Hul Kimhuy 14 minutes after the restart to give his team a winning start in Group D.

With the brace, Chhetri took his international goal tally to 82 goals from 127 official appearances. Among active players, Chhetri now trails Cristiano Ronaldo (117 goals) and Lionel Messi (86) by 35 and four goals, respectively. Had Messi not scored five against Estonia on Sunday, Chhetri would have surpassed the Argentine talisman.  

The group hosts sit level on three points with Hong Kong following the first round of matches as Jorn Andersen's team held on to win 2-1 against Afghanistan.

Only the winners of each of the six groups in the third round are guaranteed to advance to the finals next year, where they will be joined by the five runners-up with the best records.

In Group B, Oday Dabbagh's penalty five minutes from time earned Palestine a 1-0 win over Mongolia to put them on top of the early standings after the Philippines and Yemen shared a 0-0 draw.

Uzbekistan, Asian Cup semi-finalists in 2011, cruised to a 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka in their opening game in Group C to join Thailand, who defeated the Maldives 3-0, on three points at the top of the table.

Malaysia picked up a surprise 3-1 win over 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers Turkmenistan in Kuala Lumpur to sit on top of Group E on goal difference from Bahrain, who earned a 2-0 victory against Bangladesh.