India has suffered a major setback in the FIFA rankings. India has dropped six places in the latest rankings to 133rd. This is India’s worst ranking in recent times. India is at 24th place in the Asian rankings. Its previous worst performance was at 135th in December 2016. India, which had risen to 97th place, has been hit by consecutive defeats. India has won only one match from its last sixteen matches. Coach Manolo Marquez recently resigned following the team’s poor performance.
He resigned after losing to Hong Kong, who are far behind India in the FIFA rankings, in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. The defeat against Hong Kong also dealt a blow to India’s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. India will need to win all four remaining qualifiers to qualify. Marquez’s decision to leave out superstar Sunil Chhetri in the match against Hong Kong was also questioned.
Marquez, who was also the coach of FC Goa in the ISL in 2024, succeeded Igor Stimac. The contract was for two years. Marquez held the coaching position of Goa and India together in the first season. Marquez resigned with 13 months left on his contract.
Meanwhile, world champions Argentina retained their top spot. Croatia returned to the top 10 while Italy dropped out of the top 10. The top 10 teams are Spain, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Croatia. Italy, Morocco, Mexico, Colombia and the United States are in 11th to 15th place. The top Asian team in the rankings is Japan. Japan is in 17th place. Iran is in 20th place, South Korea is in 23rd place and Qatar is in 53rd place.
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