Indian football team drop two places in latest FIFA Rankings

2024 has been a miserable year for the Blue Tigers.

The Indian football team in a low has dropped down in the latest FIFA World rankings released on Thursday. The Manolo Marquez-led team has seen a disappointing drop after a rotten run of games in 2024. India has slipped from the 125th spot in the rankings to the 127th spot in the latest update released in November 2024.

The decline reflects a challenging year for Indian football, who are undergoing a tough transition under the Spaniard. The team has been winless since their closely fought 1-0 win over Kuwait in November 2023 as part of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The struggle to deliver consistent performances are now being reflected by the rankings and underlines the current state of this iteration of the team.

Indian football team underwent a tumultuous year

The team has been winless in their last 12 matches across various competitions and under new head coach Marquez hasn’t registered a win in 4 matches. Since their victory over Kuwait, they have managed five draws and seven losses, including a 1-1 draw against Malaysia in a friendly earlier this month.

The results have contributed to the team losing crucial FIFA ranking points, and causing them to fall below nations like Rwanda, Gambia and Indonesia. A team in transition, the retirement of national icon and legend Sunil Chhetri has further put the team in further trouble.

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Is there any possibility of Indian football’s resurgence?

Despite the world rankings setbacks, there was optimism about the future from India’s Sports Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya.

He recently emphasized the potential for India to rise significantly in the next batch of world rankings while expressing confidence in growing the sport. While discussing plans for expanding grassroots football initiatives, Mandaviya hinted towards ensuring coach development and building additional AIFF-FIFA-affiliated academies.

While these measures aim to nurture young talent and professionalize the sport further, the ambitious goal of breaking into the top 50 rankings seems too unrealistic at the present moment. The AIFF’s outlined plans hint towards developing regional football academies and enhancing the infrastructure which leaves a lot to be desired.

It’s been more than two decades since India’s best-ever FIFA ranking of 94th in 1996. The nation has rarely breached the top 100 since the high moments of the mid-1990s.

While the government’s backing and an increasing focus on youth development offers some hope, the team’s performance needs to pick up on the field in double time.

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