Anirudh Thapa


Anirudh Thapa is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian football club Chennaiyin and the India national football team.

Career

Born in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, he started his schooling at St. Joseph's Academy and also played football for his school team. Then Thapa began playing football at the age of ten at the St. Stephen's Football Academy in Chandigarh. After spending time with the India under-14 side, Thapa was selected to join the AIFF Regional Academy in Kalyani in 2012. As he moved up the national youth team ranks, Thapa was moved into the AIFF Elite Academy where he became captain of the side in the I-League U19. In April 2016 Thapa, along with four other players, was selected to join French Ligue 2 side Metz on a short training-stint which was sponsored by Indian Super League side Chennaiyin.
In November 2016, due to the injury of Dhanachandra Singh which ruled the defender out for the rest of the ISL season, Thapa was put into the Chennaiyin squad as a replacement. He made his professional debut for the team in the side's final match of the season against Goa. He started the match and played 67 minutes. He almost scored his first goal but unfortunately it was given an own goal.
After the conclusion of the 2016 ISL season, Thapa signed with Minerva Punjab of the I-League on loan for the 2016–17 season.

International

Thapa first represented India at the under-14 level. He was part of the under-16 side that won the 2013 SAFF U-16 Championship and participated in the qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Championship. Thapa then went on to represent the under-19 side in the SAFF U-19 Championship.
On 6 January 2019, Thapa scored his first ever international goal in a 4–1 win against Thailand in 2019 AFC Asian Cup. He scored the second goal against the same opponent in 2019 King's Cup which India won 1–0.

Stats

Career statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 January 2019Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
3–1
4–1
2019 AFC Asian Cup
2.8 June 2019Chang Arena, Buriram, Thailand
1–0
1–0
2019 King's Cup

Honours

Club

;Chennaiyin