The new FIFA rankings are out, and the Indian men's national football team have dropped down further in the list. India are now ranked 124 in the world rankings, down three spots since the last time the rankings were out.
Since December last year, India have been sliding down. They had broken into the top 100 last year, with a best ranking of 99, but since then it has been a downward curve. In Asia, India are ranked 22nd, behind the likes of Lebanon, Palestine, and Vietnam.
India's drop in rankings was expected as they couldn't progress to the third round of FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign after finish third in the group behind Kuwait and Qatar.
India had to win at least one of their remaining two matches in the qualifying campaign but ended up with a 0-0 draw against Kuwait in Kolkata followed by a 2-1 loss against Qatar away from home. Those two matches resulted in India's drop in points from 1146 to 1139.36.
Kuwait, who made it to the next round of the qualifiers, are ranked 135th. Afghanistan, who were in India's group, are currently in 151st spot. India couldn't beat the Afghans in both their games, in fact they ended up losing a match 2-1, which proved costly in their bid to reach the next round.
After the lacklustre performance of the team in the recent matches, head coach Igor Stimac was sacked by the All India Football Federation. "Noting the disappointing outcome of the Senior Men's National Team's FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign, the members unanimously agreed that a new Head Coach would be best placed to take the team forward," the AIFF statement read.
Stimac was with the team for five years, however, his period has been largely riddled with inconsistent performances. He managed to win four trophies as head coach but couldn't help the team progress in big tournaments like the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup. He oversaw 53 matches for India, eventually winning 19 of those, drawing 14 and losing 20.