Komal Thatal

Komal Thatal (born 18 September 2000 ) is an Indian professional footballer who plays for Gokulam Kerala in the Indian Football League. Thatal has represented India in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017.

Career Born in Sikkim, Thatal began playing competitive football in 2011 when he joined the Namchi Sports Academy of his native state. He spent three years at the academy before being advised by his coach to attend trials for the AIFF Elite Academy and India U17 side which would play in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Instead, Thatal joined Indian Super League side ATK for the 2017–18 season. He made his professional debut for the club on 28 January 2018 in their match against Jamshedpur. Aged 17 years and 132 days, Thatal became the youngest footballer to play an Indian Super League match. He came on in stoppage time towards the end of the match as ATK were defeated 1–0. Thatal made only two appearances for ATK in the entire season.

ATK retained Thatal for the 2018–19 season. He made his first start for ATK in their opening fixture of the season against Delhi Dynamos which ATK won 1–2. On 31 October 2018, Thatal scored his first goal for ATK in the 15th minute against Bengaluru. However, ATK lost the game 1–2.

ATK Mohun Bagan After the merger of ATK and Mohun Bagan, Thatal signed a two-year contract on a permanent deal basis. He made his debut for the club on 21 January 2021 at the 89th minute in their league match against Chennaiyin FC, winning 1–0.

Jamshedpur FC On 20 August 2021, it was announced that Thatal has signed a 3-year contract with Jamshedpur FC. He scored his first goal on 9 December against Mumbai City FC in their 4–2 defeat.

International After passing the trials in 2014, Thatal joined the India U17 side which was to play in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India. Thatal played in India's first match in the World Cup against the United States but was not included in the squad for India's final two matches in the tournament.

He has also played for the India U-23 and U-20 teams respectively. He represented India in the Asian Cup U23 Qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours ATK Indian Super League: 2019–20