The Indian football team’s surge in the FIFA rankings continued as they climbed up 31 spots to take the 101st position in the table on Thursday. This is India’s highest ranking in the last 21 years, they last achieved a ranking of 101 back in 1996.

The last time India was ranked higher in by FIFA was as far back as 1993, when the Blue Tigers scaled to 100 in the charts.

The Indian football team has had good run recently. They won a friendly against Cambodia 3-2 and also registered a 1-0 win against Myanmar away from home in 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

India started the year at 135th in the table, their best in six years and have been on the ascendancy ever since, moving to 129 in February. India lie 11th in the Asian charts, lying 12 places below 2022 World Cup hosts, Qatar.

National Coach Stephen Constantine said: “It has been a difficult road. Bringing in new blood and creating competition for places in the Team has been a process, and I’m pleased we are moving in the right direction. It’s been a total Team effort. Unless Mr. Patel [AIFF President Praful Patel] and Mr. Das [AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das] allowed me to do the things and the manner I wanted it to be done, this won’t have been possible ever. I also need to thank the support staff for their commitment to the team.”

Patel said: “This is a great achievement and a fruitful reward for the hard work displayed by the team and the support staff on a regular basis. We at AIFF look forward to supporting the team and the coach in their endeavours to ensure sustained growth of Indian Football.”

The FIFA rankings are topped by five-time Word Champions Brazil followed by arch-rivals Argentina. Reigning champions Germany are at at third place.