The Indian football team might not be going for the Asian Games. But they have one reason to feel pleased about. They have cracked the top-100 of the Fifa Rankings for the first time since 2018, according to the latest list released on Thursday.
India’s triumph in the recent SAFF Championships elevated them from 100 to 99, a small but giant leap in the context of Indian football. They have 1208.69 points.
At the SAFF Championships in Bengaluru, India defeated Lebanon and Kuwait in penalty shootouts in the semifinal and final, respectively.
Lebanon also moved up two places and are now just below India at No. 100. Kuwait rose four spots and are now 137.
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India's best Fifa ranking ever is 94, which they reached in 1996. They were at No. 96 in 2017 and 2018.
World champions Argentina continued to be at the top of the list. After them are France, Brazil, England and Belgium.
Japan are the highest ranked Asian team at No. 20. They are followed by Iran (22), Australia (27), Korea (28) and Saudi Arabia (54).
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s and women’s team will miss out on the Asian Games for a second time in a row. On July 15, the government issued a circular directing all sports governing bodies that only national teams ranked within the top eight in the continent will be allowed to participate in the Asian Games. The Indian men’s football team is currently No. 18 in Asia. And the women are ranked No. 11.
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Indian coach Igor Stimac had made a plea on social media to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look beyond the rankings and send the team on the basis of their overall improvement. But his request is unlikely to be heeded. Hopefully the rankings bring a bit of a smile on the face of Stimac and the team.
