The Indian football team had a fairy-tale run in the Hero Tri-Nation Series 2023. The Blue Tigers beat Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan in the tournament and ended up winning the series and also gaining some crucial points in the FIFA rankings.
Head Coach Igor Stimac tried out a few new things and all of them ended up working perfectly well. A lot of new faces were seen in the Indian team at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal, Manipur.
The apex body of world football, FIFA has released their latest football rankings and there have been some major shifts. Lionel Messi’s Argentina has occupied the 1st position after their win over France in the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
India too have been at the receiving end of points and have gained 8.57 points.
India jumps to the 101st position in the latest FIFA rankings
As per the latest FIFA rankings, India occupies the 101st position. Previously, India had the 106th position and have gained 5 places.
In the recently-concluded Hero Tri-Nation Series 2023, India firstly defeated Myanmar 1-0. Anirudh Thapa had netted the goal for India. In the other game against Kyrgyzstan, skipper Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan had found their names on the goal-scoring sheet.
The tournament was a good learning curve and practice pad before the AFC Asian Cup 2023, which will be taking place in January 2024. India now are between New Zealand (rank 100) and Kenya (rank 102).
France occupy the 2nd position
In the latest FIFA rankings, runners-up of the FIFA World Cup 2022, France are in the 2nd position. 5-time FIFA World Cup winners Brazil are in the 3rd position as per the rankings.
Among the Asian countries, India are in the 19th position with 1200.66 points. Till date, India’s best performance was given recognition in 1996 when they occupied the 94th position.
Also read: Super Cup 2023: East Bengal FC Announce Squad; Schedule & Live Streaming
