Rahul Bheke: List of all trophies and individual honours

The defender has been a key member of the Indian football team squad.

The journey of veteran right-back Rahul Bheke has been that of patience, resilience, and courage. A long time before becoming India’s best man to guard the fence from the right flank, Bheke started his top-tier journey with Air India FC, in the I-League.

His first game in the Indian top-tier competition was on October 28, 2012, against the mighty Mohun Bagan. Air India lost the game by a slender margin of one goal, but Bheke’s talent was noticed without fail. His high speed and superb skills made him a regular in the squad. Air India started well that season, but losses in the business end handed them a 13th-spot finish.

Next season, he appeared in the I-League again, this time for Mumbai FC. While he was having some mediocre form, his talent earned him a place at the newly formed cash-rich Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters in 2014. Since then, there has been no looking back for the star full-back. From then, till now, even at the age of 33, he has been playing for top clubs, like East Bengal FC, Mumbai City FC, and Bengaluru FC.

Playing for such big clubs, he has contributed immensely, glittering his way with multiple trophies. On that note, let’s have a look at all the trophies Rahul Bheke has earned to date:

Trophies with Indian Football Team

Rahul Bheke debuted for the Indian football team very late, at the age of 28.5 years. He donned for the Blue Tigers in an international friendly against Curacao in 2019. But since then, it has been five years. And, his record has been pretty impressive. In these five years, he has appeared in 34 international games and even struck a goal against Bahrain in 2022.

For Team India, Bheke has won four trophies, which include two SAFF Championships, a Tri-Nation Series, and an Intercontinental Cup. 

• SAFF Championship: 2021, 2023
• Tri-Nation Series: 2023
• Intercontinental Cup: 2023

Trophies with East Bengal FC

East Bengal were the first big club to sign Rahul Bheke, and to date, they remain the club with the most rich legacy for which Bheke played. His time in the Red & Gold camps was not that good. He played in 29 national-level competition games, and the club tasted no national trophy that season (and for many seasons after). However, EBFC clinched two Calcutta Football Leagues (CFL) during his time with the club.

• Calcutta Football Leagues (CFL): 2015-16, 2016-17

Trophies with Bengaluru FC

The present captain of Bengaluru FC, Bheke has represented the club in over 100 games to date. He joined the club in 2017, stayed till 2021, left for Mumbai City FC, and returned again this year, currently leading them. In his 101 games with Bengaluru FC, he has scored goals for them too.

He netted 14 goals and assisted two for the West Block Blues. With the club, he even tasted national success, claiming the Super Cup and the coveted ISL trophy.

• Indian Super Cup: 2018
• Indian Super League: 2018–19

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Trophies with Mumbai City FC

Rahul Bheke’s most recent, and one of the most successful stints at the national level came with Mumbai City FC, of whom he was an integral part from 2021-2024. During these three years, he has played for the club in 78 games, scoring three and assisting two.

His apt defending, mainly from the right, and sometimes from the centre, has been a huge plus for the side. With the Islanders, he bagged the coveted ISL Winners Shield and the ISL Cup.

• Indian Super League Winners’ Shield: 2022–23
• ISL Cup: 2023–24

Individual Trophies Rahul Bheke won

• On March 17, 2019, Rahul Bheke scored a goal in the 117th minute of the ISL final against FC Goa, at the Mumbai Football Arena. He was judged the best performer of the game. So, the star full-back has a Player of the Match award in an ISL final.
• Rahul Bheke was judged the “Player’s Player of the Season” in 2019, by Bengaluru FC.

Trophies Rahul Bheke has not achieved (with a team)

• I-League: Rahul Bheke played for three different clubs in the I-League: Air India FC, Mumbai FC, and East Bengal FC. Unfortunately, none of the clubs bagged the I-League. So, he was without a national league back then. However, he has achieved the Indian Super League Winners’ Shield: 2022–23 with Mumbai City FC.
• AFC Cup/ AFC Champions League: Rahul Bheke has appeared for his clubs in the Asian continental glories. However, his outings in both with Bengaluru FC, and Mumbai City FC yielded no results.

Individual Trophies Rahul Bheke has not achieved

Despite being one of the most consistent performers among Indian defenders in the past decade, he has been unlucky to be surpassed by other players who have performed slightly better in every other season.

So, he has not bagged any major individual trophy, be it that of the Best Player, Best Defender, or even the Emerging Player category during his initial days.

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