In the most recent FIFA rankings, which were made public on Thursday, the Indian Football Team maintained a rank of 102 in the world. After an international break in which they won one and drew one match, Igor Stimac’s team also held the 18th position in Asia.
A late goal by Manvir Singh gave India the perfect start to their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in Kuwait City, where they won 1-0. But shortly after, Asian champions Qatar pulled them back to earth with a 3-0 loss in Bhubaneswar.
Indian Football Team Raking: Points Earned
India gained 1.96 points this month as a result of the two outcomes, for a total of 1200.8, placing them 1.97 points behind Kosovo, the next-best team. After gaining 12.03 points this month, Kosovo now has 1202.77 points. It comes after they defeated higher-ranked opponents Israel and Switzerland in a tie.
India’s highest ranking to far this year is 99th, achieved in July after their victory at the SAFF Championship and Intercontinental Cup. India had 1208.69 points at that point. Losses in September and October against Malaysia and Lebanon, however, have turned out to be expensive. Due to the fact that they are both lower-ranked opponents, India will lose more FIFA ranking points.
AFC Asian Cup 2023: Pathway to earn more
The next time Stimac’s team plays is in January at the AFC Asian Cup. They will be up against Syria, Australia, and Uzbekistan in Group B and will be up against Australia in their inaugural match at Al-Rayyan. On January 23, India will play Syria in the Al-Bayt Stadium to end the group stage.
Even winning those games will give India a bigger rise in points because all three of those teams are rated higher than India — Australia is ranked 25th, Uzbekistan is ranked 68th, and Syria is ranked 91st. Out of the eight games played in 2023, Syria has lost five of them. But every defeat has come from a team with a better ranking. However, they did assert a narrow win over China. Their wins have all come against lower teams like Malyasia and Thailand.
India has faced Lebanon the most this year. Lebanon have been placed in 107 of the recently released FIFA Rankings. Lebanon have lost about 5.67 points in the ranking owning up to their losses against Monte Negro and UAE. They even drew their last two games against Palestine and Bangladesh. With Montenegro and Bangladesh being lower in rankings, they had to step down a ladder.
Facing all the higher teams in AFC Asian Cup 2023, India possesses a good opportunity to up their ranking. however, with Super Cup and no national camp Igor Stimac has claimed to stop things about the continental piece. Instead he will be more focused of reaching the third round of World CUp Qualifiers.
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