Anirudh Thapa (born 15 January 1998) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

, which he

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

Club career

Early life and youth career

Thapa was born in

Dehradun, Uttarakhand Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, where he started his schooling at St. Joseph's Academy. He began playing football at the age of 10 at the St. Stephen's Football Academy in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

. After spending time with the India U14 side, he was selected to join the AIFF Regional Academy in Kalyani in 2012. As he moved up the national youth team ranks, Thapa moved into the

AIFF Elite Academy The AIFF Elite Academy is the elite academy of the overall AIFF Academies. Started on 1 February 2013, the Elite Academy was started under a youth development project that was started between the AIFF and FIFA. The Elite Academy is the final fro ...

where he became captain of the side in the

I-League U19 The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (E ...

. In April 2016 Thapa, along with four other players, was selected to join French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

on a short training-stint which was sponsored by

side

Indian Super League

Chennaiyin

On 1 July 2016, ISL club

signed Thapa along with four other players on a long term deal. Thapa was named in the squad as a developmental player for the 2016 Indian Super League season. In November 2016, due to the injury to

Dhanachandra Singh Leihaorungbam Dhanachandra Singh is an Indian footballer who plays as left back. International Dhanachandra made his national team debut on 11 June 2015 against Oman in a Group D game of the 2018 World Cup qualifier, playing as centre back a ...

, which ruled the midfielder out for the rest of the ISL season, Thapa was put into the

squad as a replacement. He made his professional debut for the team on 1 December 2016, in his side's final match of the season against

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. He started the match and played 67 minutes which ended in a 5-4 loss. He almost scored his first goal but unfortunately it was given as an own goal.

I-League

Minerva Punjab (loan)

On 27 December 2016, after the conclusion of the 2016 Indian Super League season, Thapa signed for Minerva Punjab of the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

on loan for the

2016–17 I-League The 2016–17 I-League was the 10th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 7 January 2017 and concluded on 30 April 2017. Aizawl won their ...

season. He made his debut for the club against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

on 17 January 2017 in a 4-0 loss. On 4 February 2017, he scored his first professional goal of his career against

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in a 2-1 win, which also was the club's first ever win in the top flight. He made his last appearance for the club on 23 April 2017, against

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He finished the season with 1 goal while playing 14 matches, as the club finished second from bottom in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, avoiding relegation to the

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

only by head-to-head points to

Return to Chennaiyin

2017–18 season

Thapa returned to

on 31 May 2017, after his loan spell with Minerva Punjab. He was named in the squad for the 2017-18 Indian Super League season which commenced from 17 November 2017. He made his first appearance of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

against

Pune City Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

on 3 December 2017, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Bikramjit Singh in a 1-0 win. He scored his first goal for

against

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

in a 3-1 loss. On 25 January 2018, he produced a man of the match performance against defending champions ATK for which he received great plaudits. Former

head coach John Gregory even stated Thapa "as the next big thing in Indian football". On 10 March 2018, he scored his second goal of the

against

in the 1st leg of the semi-final playoffs. He played in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

on 17 March 2018, against

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, coming on as a substitute as

won by the margin of 3-2, thus winning him his first league title.

2018–19 season

After his breakthrough season, 2018–19 Indian Super League season was a learning curve for Thapa, who was a regular fixture in the starting line-up.

, with just nine points, finished a lowly 10th on the points table. His form, perhaps, took a hit because of the non-stop football he has played for the past 12 months. He played 18 matches for the club in the ISL season, from which he started 12 of them. He also made 8 appearances for the club in the

2019 AFC Cup The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al Ahed FC, Al-Ahed won the title for the first time, defeating 4.25 SC, ...

, scoring a deflected goal against Abahani on 30 April 2019, but

failed to qualify from the group stage.

2019–20 season

After a disappointing last

qualified for the playoffs by finishing 4th on the points table. Thapa was the centre of their resurgence as he amassed 1 goal and 6 assists during the

. However

lost in the

to ATK by the margin of 3-1 on 14 March 2020. After the conclusion of the

, Thapa stated that "he felt an improvement in his individual game".

2020–21 season

On 24 November 2020, Thapa scored in the first league match of the 2020–21 Indian Super League season, in 52 seconds against

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

to become the first Indian goal-scorer of the season. On 4 December 2020, the 22-year old midfielder was injured and substituted in the 16th minute against

. He took a knock to his right ankle He was forced to sit out the 2-1 loss against

Mumbai City Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

on 9 December 2020. Fortunately for the club, Thapa returned to full training ahead of its Indian Super League match against

on 13 December 2020.

2021-22 season

For the

2021-22 Indian super league season Increment or incremental may refer to: * Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) * Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming * Incremental computing * Incremental backu ...

, Thapa was assigned as the captain of the club. On 29 November 2021, Thapa scored the winning goal against

Northeast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

as his team won 2-1.

International career

Sunil Chhetri & Anirudh Thapa Celebrating goal

Thapa first represented India at the U14 level. He was part of the U16 side that won the 2013 SAFF U16 Championship and participated in the qualifiers for the AFC U16 Championship. Thapa then went on to represent the U19 side in the SAFF U19 Championship. On 6 January 2019, Thapa scored his first ever international goal in a 4–1 win against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

. He scored the second goal against the same opponent in

2019 King's Cup The 2019 Annual King's Cup Football Tournament ( th, ฟุตบอลชิงถ้วยพระราชทานคิงส์คัพ 2019), commonly referred to as 2019 King's Cup, was the 47th King's Cup, the annual international m ...

which

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

won 1–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first.''

Honours

Chennaiyin *

: 2017–18; runner-up 2019–20. India *

SAFF Championship The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

; runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

third place:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * AIFF Men Emerging Footballer Of The Year: 2017–2018, 2019–20

References

External links

Anirudh Thapa
at All India Football Federation
Anirudh Thapa
at India Super League * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Anirudh 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Dehradun Indian footballers Chennaiyin FC players RoundGlass Punjab FC players Association football midfielders Footballers from Uttarakhand Indian Super League players India youth international footballers Indian Gorkhas 2019 AFC Asian Cup players India international footballers I-League players