The Indian men’s football team has lost 6 places in the International Federation Football Association (FIFA) rankings. The team has now slipped to 133rd place, which is the worst ranking in the last 9 years.
India lost 0-2 to Thailand in an international friendly on June 4. After this, lower ranked team Hong Kong defeated India 1-0 in the Asian Cup qualifiers. Due to these poor performances, coach Manolo Marquez is angry with the AIFF (All India Football Federation). He resigned from the post of team coach a week ago.
Earlier, India’s worst ranking was 135 in December 2016. India’s best FIFA ranking so far has been 94, which was achieved in February 1996. India now has 1113.22 points, which was earlier 1132.03. India is ranked 24th among 46 Asian countries. Japan (17th place) is at the top among Asian countries. The loss to Hong Kong has dealt a blow to India’s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup. Under coach Marquez, the team has won just one match in the last eight, against the Maldives in March.
In 2025, India has played 4 international matches so far, winning 1, drawing 1 and losing 2. Due to poor performance, former captain and star striker Sunil Chhetri was called back after retirement, but the team’s fortunes did not change. India now have to play an away match against Singapore in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers in October.