NEW DELHI, April 6: Riding on the wins over Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, the Indian men’s football team gained five places to be at 101st spot in the latest FIFA rankings on Thursday.
India, who is just one place away from top-100, gained 8.57 rating points after registering 1-0 and 2-0 wins over Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan respectively in Imphal last month.
India’s best ranking was 94th, attained in 1996 as they had rarely breached the top-100.
The Igor Stimac-coached team is now at 19th place with a total of 1200.66 total points among 46 Asian nations. Japan is the top-ranked side among the Asian countries.
This was the first ranking chart of the year — the previous one was on December 22 last. India is now one place below New Zealand and one place above Kenya.
World champions Argentina regained top spot in the FIFA rankings after a six-year gap dethroning Brazil who slipped to third place.
Lionel Messi-led Argentina, who won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by beating France in the final, attained the No. 1 spot after they beat Panama 2-0 and Curacao 7-0 in international friendlies.
France gained one place to be at second followed by Brazil, Belgium, England, Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Spain in the top 10.
Argentina dethrone Brazil to regain top spot in FIFA rankings after six-year gap
World champions Argentina on Thursday regained top spot in the latest FIFA rankings after a six-year gap dethroning Brazil who slipped to third place.
Lionel Messi-led Argentina, who won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by beating France in the final, attained the No. 1 spot after they beat Panama 2-0 and Curacao 7-0 in international friendlies.
France gained one place to be at second after a 4-0 win over the Netherlands and 1-0 victory in Ireland in Euro 2024 qualifiers, while Brazil moved down to third after losing 2-1 away to Morocco in a friendly.
Belgium remained fourth, England were fifth followed by the Netherlands in sixth, Croatia seventh and Italy eighth. Portugal and Spain completed the top 10.
Morocco, which have joined the Spanish and Portuguese in a 2030 World Cup bidding plan, stayed at No. 11 to lead African teams.
The United States were still No. 13, two ahead of regional rival Mexico. Canada, the other North American co-host of the 2026 World Cup, rose six to No. 47.
Japan at No. 20 were the best of the Asian teams, and 2022 World Cup host Qatar fell to No. 61.
(ToI With PTI inputs/With Agency inputs)
