Success-starved India held on to the 124th position in the FIFA men’s rankings released on Thursday, even as reigning world champion and Copa America winner Argentina strengthened its grip at the top of the pecking order.
In the FIFA rankings released in June, the Indian men’s national football team dropped down three places in the list after it failed to qualify for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers after losses to Qatar and Afghanistan.
Since December last year, India has been sliding down. It had broken into the top 100 last year, with a best ranking of 99, but since then it has been in a downward spiral.
In Asia, India remained in the 22nd position, behind the likes of Lebanon, Palestine, and Vietnam.
Having successfully defended its Copa América crown, Argentina (1st) tightened its grip at the top of the table.
France (2nd) remained its closest challenger, after reaching the semifinals of EURO 2024.
Newly crowned European champion Spain (3rd, up 5 places) has yet more reason to celebrate after hauling itself into the top three of the ranking, while beaten finalist England (4th, up 1 place) was just behind the leading pack, having leapfrogged Brazil (5th, down 1 place).
Belgium (6th, down 3 places) now finds itself outside the top five, with the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th, down 2 places) just behind it.
Colombia (9th, up 3 places) may find solace in its creditable return to the top 10 despite a narrow defeat to the Albiceleste in the Copa América final.
Comments
SHARE