ISL fastest goals: Top 10 quickest strikes in league history
Raphaël Messi Bouli scored for Punjab FC against Odisha FC in an Indian Super League match on 14 October 2026, striking inside the opening minute and recorded in the article as both 33 seconds and 39 seconds, a finish the piece lists as the sixth-fastest goal in ISL history.
Early goals are uncommon in football but the ISL has produced several inside-the-first-minute strikes; the article cites David Williams' 12-second goal as the league record and notes Mohammed Rafi’s 48-second effort among other rapid openings.
David Williams holds the fastest ISL goal at 12 seconds in the Mohun Bagan versus Hyderabad FC game on 5 January 2022, after receiving a pass from Hugo Boumous and firing a left-foot shot from outside the box that nearly was kept out by Laxmikant Kattimani; that match finished 2-2 after Bartholomew Ogbeche equalised in the 17th minute, an Ashish Rai own goal in the 64th minute and a late Javier Siverio strike.
Raphaël Messi Bouli’s entry into the list came in the Punjab FC v Odisha FC fixture when Diego Raposo released the ball to Muhammad Suhail, who found Muhammad Uvais; Uvais crossed for Messi Bouli to finish, a sequence recorded elsewhere in the piece at 39 seconds, and Bouli later scored again in the final minute after Odisha had levelled.
Mohammed Rafi is noted for a 48-second goal while playing for Kerala Blasters against FC Pune City and the article also records that Rafi became the third Indian to score in an ISL final in 2016 for Kerala Blasters; Chris Dagnall’s 29-second strike for Kerala Blasters against NorthEast United in 2015 is described through a sequence involving Josue Prieto Currais and Antonio German creating the cross to Dagnall.
The article lists several other sub-minute goals: Marcelinho’s 37-second finish for Hyderabad FC versus Odisha FC on 15 January 2020, set up after Néstor Gordillo’s cross and a saved volley by Nikhil Poojary; PV Vishnu’s 32-second strike for East Bengal on 29 February 2024 following an Aleksandar Pantic chip, in a match East Bengal lost 2-1 to Odisha with goals in the 40th and 61st minutes; and Parthib Gogoi’s first-minute cross on 30 December 2024 that Alaaeddine Ajaraie helped into the net in Mumbai Football Arena, Ajaraie finishing with a brace and the player-of-the-match award as NorthEast United won 3-0.
Other quick goals documented include Daniel Chima’s first-minute finish for Jamshedpur FC against Bengaluru FC on 5 February 2022 after Roshan Naorem failed to clear a loose ball, a game in which Bengaluru recovered to win 3-1 with Sunil Chhetri scoring the equaliser and Cleiton Silva adding two; Cleiton Silva’s early goal on 15 February 2021 for Bengaluru versus Mumbai City FC came from a Sunil Chhetri through ball to Udanta Singh and a cross into the six-yard area, Silva completing a brace on the night while Sunil Chhetri and Adam le Fondre also recorded braces.
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