New Delhi: The Indian football team courtesy their recent performances moved up two places to be ranked at 105th in the latest FIFA rankings released on Monday. The men in blue who have been performing exceedingly well just qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after defeating Macau 4-1 at home a couple days ago.
Earlier, the country had faced disappointment when India dropped out of the top 100 to be ranked at 107th when the FIFA rankings were published in September, but with the convincing result against Macau in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers India’s ranking has again improved.
The ‘Blue Tigers’ now have 328 ranking points and received a boost of 12 points courtesy their win and also results elsewhere.
However despite the improvement in rankings India dropped down by a place in the Asian Football Confederation to be placed at 14th among the others. Lebanon improved 15 spots to be packed at 100 while the Korea Republic (by 11 spots), Saudi Arabia (by 10 spots) and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar (by 12 spots) all dropped down in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Indian football has witnessed a resurgence in the recent period which saw India enter the top 100 rankings for the first time in 21 years. The men in blue maintained their position for some time before dropping out of the top 100 in September. But with the latest development India will aim to improve to enter the top 100 yet again. The country’s best ever FIFA ranking however still remains the 94th ranking it achieved in February 1996.
In world football, Germany with 1631 rating points continued to hold on to the top position in the FIFA rankings. The top six which consists of Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium and Poland remained unchanged. France and Spain received a boost of 1 and 3 rating points respectively to be placed at seventh and eight in the rankings. South American country Peru with two ratings points entered the top 10. European powerhouse England with three ratings also moved up to be placed at 12 in the FIFA rankings.