Indian football team drops three spots in the latest FIFA Ranking after poor show in Unity Cup
India have suffered three consecutive defeats.
The Indian football team is going through a catastrophic run. For the first time in over two decades, India will not compete in the AFC Asian Cup after a disastrous run in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, finishing at the bottom of the table despite being the highest-ranked team in the group.
To make things even worse, the Indian football team lost to Bangladesh in their penultimate fixture in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers before winning a rare game against Hong Kong in Kerala.
After the ISL 2025-26 season, things were expected to be better with time as Khalid Jamil got more time to settle in as the manager. But the opposite happened as the Indian football team went on to finish at the bottom in the Unity Cup 2026 after succumbing to defeats to Jamaica and Zimbabwe in the Valley.
They are now coming after a defeat to Tajikistan in the first friendly, and Farukh’s solitary goal salvaged some pride for India in a 3-1 thrashing. This series of defeats badly affected India’s FIFA rankings, and ahead of the next FIFA/ AFC Asian Cup qualifier cycle, India needs to improve their rankings.
India’s FIFA ranking fluctuations in Khalid era
When Khalid Jamil took over the reins of the Indian football team, India was ranked 133rd. Despite a historic bronze in the CAFA Nations Cup, India slipped a spot to 134 after dropping points against Afghanistan and also a penalty shootout win over higher placed Oman didn’t help India get the maximum surge.
The AFC Asian Cup window had the highest match importance weightage. The Indian football team drew and lost to a lower-ranked Singapore in both games. This saw India go down to 136, and India’s AFC Asian Cup 2027 hopes were also destroyed.
After the defeat to Bangladesh, India fell to 142, the lowest so far in Khalid’s tenure. In January, despite the Indian football team not playing a game, African teams like Botswana lost to strong teams in AFCON 2025-26, making India rise a spot higher to 141.
Blue Tigers biggest rise came after they won 2-1 against Hong Kong in home. Because it was an AFC Asian Cup qualifier, a regulation 90-minute win yielded the maximum possible points and India climbed 5 spots higher to reach 136.
India drop to 139 after three consecutive defeats
An underwhelming campaign in the Unity Cup 2026 saw the Indian football team finish at the bottom after defeats to Jamaica and Zimbabwe. Luckily, the Unity Cup games were played outside the FIFA International Break window.
However, the Indian football team suffered the maximum damage after their recent 3-1 defeat to Tajikistan, causing a dip in 3.74 coefficient points, as it was played under official international constraints.
India still have a golden chance to improve their rankings with a win over Tajikistan. Tajikistan are ranked 36 places higher than India, and the Elo rating formula expects Tajikistan to win.
If the Indian football team wins the next game within 90 minutes, it would be a big mathematical upset, as India can easily climb 2-3 spots higher or more, given that other teams do not win massively.
Why must India improve their FIFA rankings?
Just immediately after the AFC Asian Cup 2027 in Saudi Arabia, the new cycle for FIFA World Cup 2030 and the AFC Asian Cup 2031 would begin. If India’s bid to host the 2031 AFC Asian Cup gets rejected, India will have to undergo a gruelling qualification process.
Now, the top 26 teams in the Asian Football Confederation directly qualify for the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, just like India did last time, and the road to the AFC Asian Cup also becomes easier. The FIFA qualifier window also gives teams a chance to play quality games against big teams.
However, the bottom-placed teams in the AFC play a two-legged qualifier game in the first round. In case of a defeat, their World Cup dreams get destroyed within just months. India would try to avoid that scenario at any cost, but only the top 26 teams from the AFC get a bye to the second round.
Given the Indian football team’s latest FIFA rankings, India stands exactly at the 26th rank in Asia. Any further hiccups would massively affect India’s qualification hopes to get an easier group.
Who are holding the top spots in the FIFA World Rankings?
Argentina’s win over Honduras saw them occupy the top spot in the FIFA World Rankings, followed by Spain, France, England, and Portugal. Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, teams are playing their trade in international friendlies as a build-up to the biggest event in mankind’s history.
Talking about Asian teams, for the first time, 9 teams from the AFC will compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026, including debutants Jordan and Uzbekistan. Japan, Iran and South Korea are the top-ranked Asian teams in the latest FIFA rankings.
Though Asian teams have struggled to clinch a podium finish in the World Cup historically, in the expanded 48-team tournament, we can expect many Asian teams like reigning Asian champions Qatar and Japan to emerge as dark horses.
After all, in the last edition, an Asian team, Saudi Arabia, went on to pull the biggest upset in World Cup history after defeating eventual champions Argentina in the opening match week.
What is India’s latest FIFA ranking after the defeat to Tajikistan?
IndiaWhat is India’s current position among AFC nations? has dropped three places to 139th in the latest FIFA World Rankings following consecutive defeats in the Unity Cup 2026 and a 3-1 loss to Tajikistan in an international friendly.
What is India’s current position among AFC nations?
Based on the latest rankings, India occupies the 26th position among Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations.
What has been India’s FIFA ranking journey under Khalid Jamil?
India was ranked 133rd when Khalid Jamil took charge. The team later slipped to 134th, then 136th, dropped to 142nd after the loss to Bangladesh, climbed back to 136th following a win over Hong Kong, and has now fallen to 139th after three successive defeats.
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In addition to writing articles on World and Indian Football, Saikat has also covered tournaments like the Durand Cup, Indian Super League, and Hockey India League. Notably, his exceptional communication skills have seen him interview legendary icons like Olympic 2024 gold medalist Yibbi Jansen, former Real Madrid player Javi Hernandez, and many more such sporting stalwarts.