Advertisement

Updated September 16th, 2021 at 23:29 IST

FIFA Rankings: India drops two places, Belgium stays put at the top

India have dropped two places in the latest FIFA Rankings announced on Thursday. The team won one of their two international friendlies with Nepal this month.

FIFA Rankings
(Image: AP) | Image:self
Advertisement

The Indian Football team has dropped two places to the 107th rank in the latest FIFA rankings that were released on Thursday. In their last campaign, India remained unbeaten during the international friendlies against Nepal, as the first match at the Dashrath Stadium ended in a 1-1 tie, and India pulled off a 2-1 win in the second game. The friendlies were played as a preparation for the 2021 SAFF Championship, set to be held in the Maldives from October 1 to 16. 

When it comes to FIFA Rankings, World No. 1 Belgium retains its top spot followed by Brazil and the latest team to jump to third place, England. France now finds itself at the fourth position ahead of Italy Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, and Denmark, who gained one place to the 10th. Portugal switched places with Spain to reach 7th place in the latest rankings. Among India’s SAFF Cup group rivals in the likes of Bangladesh who rank at 189th place, Sri Lanka at 205th place, and the Maldives in 158th place, Nepal finds themselves on the 168th spot. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) teams such as Iran who are at the 22nd spot exchanged places with Japan who are now at 26th place. 

India's highest-ever FIFA rankings was 94 achieved in 1996.

During the two international friendlies against Nepal back in September, India draw 1-1 in the first match at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Nepal managed to push India towards the end of the game, as they took the lead of the match in the 36th minute. India however, managed to make a comeback in the second half as Anirudh Thapa scored the equalizer. In the second international friendly match, the Blue Tigers pulled off a 2-1 win over Nepal at the same stadium. Farukh Choudhary and the skipper Sunil Chhetri scored in the second half and earned the deserved win for India. India lost 105th place in the FIFA rankings, a ranking they had held since April 2021. They have previously achieved their best-ever FIFA rankings, 94 in the year 1996. India has also achieved the 96th position twice in 2017, and 2018.

(Image: AP)

Advertisement

Published September 16th, 2021 at 23:29 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo