India drop six places to 103rd in FIFA rankings

The Blue Tigers lost 21 coefficient points due to their early elimination from the AFC Asian Cup.

The India national football team has dropped out of the top 100 in the FIFA Rankings, being ranked in 103rd place in the revised list released on Thursday. Following a topsy-turvy AFC Asia Cup campaign, where the Blue Tigers defeated Thailand 1-4 in the opening contest, before experiencing bitter defeats to the UAE and Bahrain, India’s coefficient in the FIFA rankings has gone down.

After being in the top 100 places for close to a year, the Blue Tigers now have a mountain to climb to get back up into the fray. India lost 21 coefficient points due to their early elimination from the AFC Asian Cup, with the crushing losses in the group stages having a bitter effect on their ranking position.

With no FIFA international friendlies being on the cards, it’ll take the new manager some doing to replicate Stephen Constantine’s work in getting the national team rising in the FIFA rankings once again.

This harrowing downfall could be a wake-up call for the All India Football Federation, who could be forced to speed up the managerial appointment. They need to get some fixtures in place to continue the growth of the national team and for the Blue Tigers to start rising in the FIFA rankings ladder again.

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Interestingly, India’s group opponents Bahrain and Thailand are still below the Blue Tigers, despite being able to qualify for the knockout stages ahead of them. Bahrain rose two places to 111th, while Thailand sit in 115th position, after recovering well from the thrashing received at the hands of India. Group winners UAE have also been rewarded for progressing to the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals, gaining 22 places to move into 67th position.

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AFC Asian Cup champions Qatar are the biggest gainers of the Asian continent, gaining 36 places and rising to 55th position. The Maroons have also moved into the top five of the AFC teams, gaining 140 points from their inaugural Asian Cup triumph. However, Iran still lead the pack among the continent's teams, moving up to 22nd position after making the semi-finals of the Asian Cup.

Meanwhile, Belgium remain at the top of the FIFA rankings, sitting merely one point above world champions France. Brazil, Croatia, and England complete the top five, while former World Cup champions Germany remains in 16th position.