FIFA Rankings: India Drop Outside Top-100 After AFC Asian Cup, Iran Remains Top Asian Team

The Indian Football team has dropped out of the top -100 after their mixed performance in their AFC Asian Cup, the New Indian Express has reported. In the latest FIFA rankings, which were released on 7 February, India dropped 21 points from 1240 to 1219 to sit on the 103rd spot.

A year ago, India was on the 102nd spot, before moving onto the 97th position in September 2018. In the continental tournament, India started with a commendable 4-1 victory against Thailand, before losing 2-0 to the hosts and semi-finalists UAE.

Despite the defeat, the Blue Tigers had a good chance to qualify for the knockout round by winning their final group match against Bahrain, but the last gasp penalty conceded and scored by Jamal Rashid broke Indian hearts.

Due to no games in other confederations, the latest rankings are dominated with Asian teams moving up the rankings. Asian Cup champions Qatar made the most significant improvement in the rankings, as their first title aided them to move up by 38 places into the 55th position in the latest update.

Among other significant improvements, finalists Japan also moved up by 23 places to the 27th position; South Korea stepped up to the 38th position, Jordan came in to the 97th position and UAE now sits at the 67th position. Iran held its position as the top-ranked team in the Asian confederation as they moved up by seven places to 22nd.