The Indian senior men’s national team went down to 103rd in the latest edition of Fifa rankings for the month of February 2019, released on Thursday.
The Blue Tigers fell six spots after their first-round exit at the AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, after being drawn into a group with the hosts, Thailand and Bahrain. Although they defeated Thailand 4-1 in their opener (their first win at the tournament in 55 years), they lost 2-0 to UAE and 1-0 to Bahrain. They eventually finished last in the group and were knocked out.
They are now 18th in the continent, having been overtaken by Jordan, Vietnam and Palestine.
The Asian sides made some big strides in the global rankings, due to the continental extravaganza in an otherwise-quiet month for the world’s footballing powerhouses.
Winners Qatar were the biggest movers, jumping 38 spots to 55th after gaining 130 points in the rankings. Beaten finalists Japan, who lost 1-3, jumped 23 spots to 27th after failing to win what would have been a record fifth Asian Cup title.
Iran are still Asia’s highest-ranked team, despite the 3-0 semi-final loss at the hands of Japan. Team Melli are up seven spots to 22nd, only three off their all-time best ranking of 19. The hosts of the Asian Cup 2019 and the other losing semi-finalists, UAE are up 12 positions to 67th. South Korea are 38th while Australia are ranked 42nd.
At the top of the table, there was no change in the first 10 spots, with Belgium continuing to occupy No 1 position ahead of World Champions France.
