India moved up to 101st in the latest FIFA rankings released earlier today. With their latest jump, the Blue Tigers have inched ever closer to breaking into the top 100.
India are currently ranked 11th in Asia. With the 10th placed Asian team, Qatar, dropping from 84th to 89th in the overall rankings, India also have closed in on forcing their way into Asia’s top ten. For a country whose average FIFA ranking is 134th, rising to 101st is a massive leap.
Here are a few statistical quirks that should add perspective to India’s latest achievement.
India’s jump in places second best in the world
India jumped 31 places to sit 101st in FIFA’s latest rankings, up from March’s 132nd place. This surge in positions is only behind FYR Macedonia, who leapt up 33 places to 133rd, in the rankings released for April.
India in Brazil’s company with positive swing of points
India’s rise up the FIFA rankings ladder has been helped by their accumulation of points over the past month. The Blue Tigers had a 98-point spike in April’s rankings, behind only four teams. Brazil lead the way with their 127-point upswing, followed by Bulgaria with 125 points and Bolivia with 99 points.
India also got more points than World Cup finallists Germany and Argentina, both of whom dropped points this week.
India’s best ranking in almost two decades
India’s current FIFA ranking of 101st is their best since 2000. It has been more than 15 years since the Blue Tigers experienced such a high. Their standing of 106th in 2000 has been seemingly insurmountable over the years; with the latest ranking, India could be said to have turned a corner.
India are ahead of plenty World Cup-playing nations
As many as nine countries who have played in the finals of a World Cup sit below India in the latest FIFA rankings. While rankings aren’t an objective measure of a team’s strength, it is a matter of pride for India to be ahead of New Zealand, Canada, Togo, Iraq, North Korea, Kuwait, Cuba, Angola and El Salvador — countries that have participated in World Cup finals in the past.
The Blue Tigers’ 101st placed standing in the global game raises hopes of them one day featuring in a World Cup finals.
India’s best move in over 20 years
India’s 31-place jump is their best in over 20 years. The last time the Blue Tigers made a similar surge was in February 1996, when they bypassed 30 places to reach an all-time high ranking of 94. However, that spike was quickly followed by an 11-place fall in July of the same year.
Having risen from the depths of 166th place in 2015, a similar trajectory to 1996 will undo all the work that has been done to take India close to the top 100. With the rate of improvement, such a scenario looks unlikely, and it is only a matter of time before we see the Blue Tigers among the top 100 national teams in world football.
Also Read: How India has a realistic chance of qualifying for 2026 FIFA World Cup
