Indian captain Sunil Chhetri in motion with the Afghanistan gamers through the world cup qualifying match in Guwahati on Tuesday, 26 March 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: RITU RAJ KONWAR
The Indian soccer males’s crew dropped 4 locations to 121 within the newest FIFA rankings, its worst lately, following an embarrassing 1-2 defeat in opposition to Afghanistan within the second spherical of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Guwahati final month.
The Igor Stimac-coached facet, which had damaged into the top-100 final yr, having received the Intercontinental Cup, the Tri-Nations match and the SAFF Championship, on March 26 suffered a stunning defeat at dwelling to lowly-ranked Afghanistan to proceed its poor run of late.
Although the crew registered a win in opposition to Kuwait within the World Cup qualifiers, its first away win in over twenty years, the forgettable outing on the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar, the place the facet misplaced all its matches with out scoring a single aim, noticed it plummet 15 spots to 117th after the continental match.
India ended their Asian Cup marketing campaign in January pointless and goal-less after shedding to Australia (0-2), Uzbekistan (0-3) and Syria (0-1). It completed on the backside of the four-team Group B.
Final month, the Blue Tigers have been held to a goalless draw by Afghanistan of their first leg second spherical World Cup qualifiers in Abha, Saudi Arabia, after which misplaced the house fixture, prompting outrage from followers and requires sacking of Stimac.
India’s worst rating, although, is 173.
Earlier than dropping 15 locations to 117 in March, the Indian crew was positioned at 102nd within the FIFA rankings, issued on December 21, 2023.
Reigning world champions Argentina proceed to prime the chart adopted by 2022 World Cup runners-up France, England, Belgium and Brazil.
Netherlands occupy the sixth place and they’re adopted by Portugal, Spain and Italy with Croatia finishing the highest 10.