The Indian football team was officially back in the top 100 of the FIFA Men’s World Rankings, with 1204.90 points in the latest update published on Thursday. It gained 4.24 ranking points after its 5 wins and 2 draws in the seven games it played in June across the Intercontinental Cup at the SAFF Championship. It is now ranked at the 100th position, a jump from 101th position.

This is the first time India has been placed in FIFA’s top 100 rankings in five years.

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India’s AFC ranking

The jump now sees India as the 18th-ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Lebanon and India swapped their positions in the AFC nations rankings afterLebanon’s loss to India in the Intercontinental Cup final, which took one ranking point away from them.

Reacting to the news of India being placed in the top 100, the team’s head coach Igor Stimac said that India has to hold its place in international rankings and improve standards of their play. “I am happy with the news, but we need to cement that position in our next few games,” Stimac told ANI.

FIFA World Rankings: Top 5 nations

  1. Argentina

Leading the charts is Lionel Messi-led Argentina. The team continued to maintain its position at the head with 1843.73 points.

  1. France

Following Argentina in a close second is France with 1843.54 points. The team has won all four of their UEFA Euro qualifiers. 

  1. Brazil

The team from the land of Pelé has seen some rough days recently. After their FIFA World Cup 2022 exit, they lost two of their last three friendlies and their two outings in June ended in a win and a loss. However, with 1828.27 points on the table, Brazil is currently ranked third.

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  1. England

Coming in fourth with 1797.39 points, England saw two victories in June, beating Malta and North Macedonia in two Euro qualifying matches.

  1. Belgium

Belgium, which was at the top of the FIFA World Rankings between 2018 and 2022, has been ranked at the fifth position with 1788.55 points.