What is the Indian football team's FIFA Ranking in 2021?

Indian National Team during their practice session in Doha. (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)
Indian National Team during their practice session in Doha. (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)

The Indian national football team's remaining three fixtures in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers are against Qatar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The first of those will be played against Qatar at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium tomorrow.

India is currently ranked 105 in the FIFA Rankings. India's opponents Qatar are ranked 58, while Bangladesh and Afghanistan are ranked 184 and 149 respectively.

India's best-ever FIFA ranking has been 94, which they achieved in 1996. In recent times, the best ranking that India has managed is 96 in 2018.

Former Indian national team coach Stephen Constantine helped India climb the ranking ladder as he remarkably managed to take the team from 173 in the FIFA Rankings in 2015 to 97 in 2018.

Igor Stimac hasn't had the best of results with the National Team.
Igor Stimac hasn't had the best of results with the National Team.

After falling below 100 again, Igor Stimac, the current Indian national team coach, still hasn't been able to help the side break into the top 100 rankings.

Igor Stimac's record with the national team certainly needs to improve as he has managed to secure just one victory in twelve games, losing six and drawing five.

The FIFA ranking system is based in a manner that takes into account the results, match status, opposition strength and regional strength.

The formula for the FIFA Ranking system is:

Ranking Points = Result Points*Opposition Strength*Match Status*Regional Strength

India started the year placed 104 in the rankings

India didn't move a spot up or down from its place in the last ranking of 2020. The stable position was mainly due to the lack of games during the pandemic.

India played two friendlies in March 2021 against Oman and UAE. While India played out a 1-1 draw against Oman on March 25th, the Blue Tigers succumbed to a 6-0 defeat against the United Arab Emirates on 29th March. After their display in March, India dropped one spot in the April rankings to 105.

Because India didn't play any games in April or May, the team remained at 105 in the rankings released in May.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande