indian football team
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
The Indian men’s football team on Thursday broke into the top 99 in the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2018. The team gained one place to reach 99th position thanks to the SAFF Championship title. In the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2018, India beat Lebanon and Kuwait on penalties in the semi-finals and final respectively at the SAFF Championship in Bangalore earlier this month.
Lebanon also gained two places to be placed 100th, just below India, while Kuwait jumped four places to be ranked 137th in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday. West Asian countries Lebanon and Kuwait were invited to the SAFF Championship to keep the level of competition strong in the tournament. India has now scored 1208.69 points.
India’s best FIFA ranking is 94 which the team achieved in 1996. The team had also reached the 99th position in 1993, while in 2017 and 2018 it was successful in achieving the 96th position. Last month, the team was ranked 100th. World champions Argentina continue to reign at the top followed by France, Brazil, England and Belgium. In Asia, Japan topped the table at 20th position while Iran (ranked 22nd), Australia (27th), Korea (28th) and Saudi Arabia (54th) are the other teams in the top five.