Indian football team witness another downfall in FIFA rankings

This is the Indian football team’s lowest ranking in the past seven years.

The Indian football team dropped to 121 in the latest FIFA rankings (men’s) released on Thursday (April 4, 2024), setting a new record low ranking in the past seven years. The disastrous revelation comes after an excruciating international window, where the Blue Tigers picked only a solitary point, out of a possible six, against 158-ranked Afghanistan, in Group A of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (Asian). 

India have lost 19.23 points in the latest rankings and their total points tally currently stands at 1145.94. However, despite the fall in rankings, India still hold the 22nd spot in the Asian Football Confederation.

India’s recent performances

After an underwhelming performance at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, where Sunil Chhetri and co. failed to score a solitary goal, India fell rock bottom, and saw their ranking fall 15 places, all the way down to 117, which was the lowest they had been ranked in the Igor Stimac era.

It was thereafter expected that the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers games in March could see a change in India’s fortunes, as they were going to face a relatively weaker side in the form of Afghanistan. But a disproportionate and lackluster performance saw them play out a goalless draw in the first tie, which was topped off by a defeat at home, as India surrendered a 1-0 lead in the second half. 

With the future of the Indian football team in the forthcoming windows now looking pretty blurry, there are huge concerns over how the AIFF is going to tackle the delicate situation regarding the performances.

Coach Stimac also made a bold statement to the reporters on the eve of India’s home match against Afghanistan. He said, “If I don’t take India to the third round I will leave, with my pride, with my honour on everything that was done here in the five years of work. I will leave my position to someone else.” 

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