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What's the story?
The Indian football team have dropped a place from 103rd to 104th in the latest rankings released by Federation of International Football Associations.
In case you didn't know...
In the recently concluded international break, the Igor Stimac coached Blue Tigers started their 2022 FIFA World Cup/2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualification round with a 1-2 defeat to Oman.
Then, with record goalscorer and leader Sunil Chhetri missing from the Qatar game, the Indian side produced a magnificent performance to hold the Asian champions to a 0-0 draw at their home ground.
The heart of the matter
The Blue Tigers have dropped a single place in the latest FIFA rankings virtue of a defeat and a draw in their last two matches in the September International break. The Indian team is now ranked at 104th in the FIFA rankings.
Other teams in India's qualification group have also seen a change in rankings. Oman courtesy of the 2-1 win over India jumped three places to 84th while Qatar remained in 62nd position. Afghanistan jumped three spots into 146th as they recorded a 1-0 win over Bangladesh while Bangladesh dropped five places into 187th.
Belgium managed to retain their top position with world champions France displacing the Copa America champions Brazil from the second position. No side from outside the top ten was able to break into it with some minor changes within the top 10 witnessed in the latest rankings.
What's next?
The Indian football team would be hosting Bangladesh at the Salt Lake Stadium in next month's international break before visiting Afghanistan and Oman in the November international break. Indian football fans would be hoping to break into the top two of Group E with easier matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan around the corner.
