The Indian national football team is set to make another giant leap when the FIFA rankings come out next month. The Blue Tigers are all but confirmed to make it to the top 100 for the first time in 21 years, after Malawi contrived to lose the first leg of their African Nations Championship first round qualifier against Madagascar.
Malawi, who currently occupy the 100th place in the current FIFA rankings, will drop down a few places owing to them losing to a lower ranked team in Madagascar. That will pave the way for India to replace the Africans and enter the top 100, which will be another big milestone for the sleeping giants of football.
In the rankings released for April, India were just two points behind Malawi in 101st place. The African nation needed two wins against Madagascar to keep their current position in May, but since they have now lost the first leg, India will leapfrog them in May’s rankings. The FIFA rankings for the month of May will be released on the 4th day of the month.
With no matches in the month of April for the Blue Tigers, the only hope for Stephen Constantine’s charges to hit the FIFA top 100 was 120th-ranked Madagascar pulling off an upset against Malawi. A late, 87th minute Raveloarisana goal for the tiny island nation meant that Malawi will now drop a few places, leading to India touching the top 100 for the first time since February 1996, when they reached their all-time highest FIFA ranking of 94.
The Blue Tigers don’t have any international matches before they take on Lebanon in a friendly on the 7th of June. With another month without any action for the team, it is unlikely India will hold on to their relatively lofty 100th position for long. However, they have been in good form of late, and that means they will be prepared for the Lebanon challenge as well as their Asian Cup qualifier against the Kyrgyz Republic on the 13th of June.
It’s been quite a revival of Indian football in the recent past under Constantine. From being down as low as 173rd in March 2015 to reaching the top 100 in two years is a commendable achievement, particularly at a time when Indian football is in a state of flux.
