From top 100 to 142: Full failure in half-a-decade!

Team India ahead of their AFC Asian Cup match vs Syria in Doha on January 23, 2024. Pic/Getty Images

After achieving a decent 104 rank towards the end of 2020, Indian football oscillated between the 104th and 109th position for the next couple of years.

In 2023 though there was an upswing thanks to an impressive season, where the Blue Tigers won the Intercontinental Cup (June) at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar (beating Lebanon 2-0), and the SAFF Championship (July) at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru (beating Kuwait 5-4 via tie-breaker after the scores were locked 1-1 at the end of full time), ensuring the team broke into the top 100 ranking - 99 to be precise though they did hit 102 the same year.

In 2024 though things took a turn for the worse. India flopped in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 which was held in early 2024 and plummeted to 117. This was followed by a poor show at the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers, where India made a second-round exit. India did not win a single match in 2024 and ended up No. 127th that year. The next year was worse. India struggled in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers and slipped to 142 - its lowest ranking in a decade.

Year India's FIFA rankings

2020 Fell from 104 to 109
2021 Fell from 104 to 107
2022 Fell from 104 to 106
2023 Fell from 99 to 102
2024 Fell from 117 to 127
2025 Fell from 127 to 142

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