India’s ascent in the latest FIFA rankings has seen them inch closer to the top 100. The Blue Tigers are currently 101st, tied with Nicaragua, Lithuania and Estonia.
India’s latest achievement is a proof of their improving fortunes on the pitch, having won 11 of their last 13 games. Consistent progress on the pitch coupled with growth off the pitch can help Indian football scale new heights in the future, the pinnacle of which should be to qualify for a FIFA World Cup finals.
Ranking as low as 101st is fairly irrelevant as far as making it to the World Cup is concerned since teams participating in football’s biggest competition are among the cream of the top 100. Qualifying for the finals of a World Cup is a distant dream for India, but quite a few teams who sit below the Blue Tigers in the latest rankings have previously experienced the high of playing in a World Cup.
#1 New Zealand
The Oceanians giants, currently ranked 112th, have played in two World Cup finals. Their first foray was in the 1982 World Cup, where they lost all their matches in a group containing Brazil.
New Zealand’s biggest footballing achievement came in the 2010 World Cup where they remained the only undefeated team in the tournament. The All Whites drew all their group stage matches and had a hand in sending home defending champions Italy winless.
The lack of competition in Oceanian football is often cited as one of the reasons pulling New Zealand football back, but that has also eased the All Whites path to the World Cup finals.
#2 Kuwait
Another World Cup-playing nation sitting below India in the latest FIFA rankings is Kuwait. The Middle Easterners are currently banned by FIFA and have played only twice since the start of 2016. All that explains the Blues’ lowly ranking of 166th.
Kuwait’s only appearance in a World Cup finals was in 1982, the same year New Zealand made their World Cup debut. In what was a World Cup dotted with controversies from the Disgrace of Gijon to the Harald Schumacher-Patrick Battiston incident, Kuwait added their own bit of controversy to the tournament.
In their group stage match with France, the Kuwaiti players, who had stopped playing after appearing to hear the referee’s whistle, walked off the pitch in protest after their opponents scored a goal. They eventually resumed playing only after the intervention of Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed, when he walked down to the pitch to speak to the fourth official and the referee’s subsequent decision to disallow the French goal.
#3 North Korea
North Korea are ranked 115th in the latest rankings, 14 places below India. Like New Zealand, they have played in two World Cup finals, the latest being in 2010.
They finished bottom of their group in the 2010 World Cup, behind Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. However, their biggest success on the world stage came in the 1966 World Cup where they pulled off one of football’s biggest upsets.
They caused an upset by beating Italy in the group stage 1-0 and in the process, eliminated the Azzurri from the tournament. In their quarter-final clash against Eusebio’s Portugal, the North Koreans raced to a 3–0 lead in 25 minutes only to see the Black Panther score four times as the Portuguese came back to win 5–3.
#4 El Salvador
El Salvador are ranked 108th, seven places below India, in the latest FIFA rankings. Los Cuscatlecos have participated in two World Cup finals, in 1970 and 1982.
Their first World Cup campaign, in Mexico in 1970, saw them lose all three group stage matches against the Soviet Union, Mexico and Belgium, scoring none and conceding nine goals.
In their second foray into the World Cup, El Salvador set a record of sorts. Having been grouped with Argentina, Belgium and Hungary, the Blue and Whites lost all their group stage matches. Against Hungary, they were on the receiving end of a 10–1 scoreline, which is still the heaviest defeat suffered by a team in a World Cup finals.
#5 Cuba
Cuba are ranked 163rd, a fair distance beneath India in the latest FIFA rankings. Like North Korea, Cuba also made it to the quarter-finals of a World Cup, although back then, it took only one win to progress into the last eight.
The 1938 World Cup in France was Cuba’s only appearance in the World Cup finals. In a competition featuring only 15 teams, the Lions of the Caribbean beat Romania via a replay in the first round before being soundly swatted aside 8–0 by Sweden in the quarter-final.
Since that solitary appearance almost 80 years ago, the Cubans have had very little success on the world stage as well as the continental stage.
Also Read: Stats: Records broken by India after attaining 101st spot in FIFA rankings
