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India have improved one place to be 22nd in the AFC standings.
Indian men’s football team head coach Manolo Marquez (AIFF)
Indian men’s football team climbed one place to 125th in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday, thanks to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Vietnam in an international friendly earlier this month.
Under new coach Manolo Marquez, India are yet to win a match. The team under Marquez has lost once and drawn twice, that saw it earn +0.26 points, taking its total points tally to 1133.78.
In the AFC standings, India have also improved one notch to be 22nd, behind Vietnam who have lost three rungs.
Argentina (1st) are still on top, but their lead over France (2nd) and Spain (3rd) has been cut. England (4th), Brazil (5th) and Belgium (6th) have all held on to their positions. Portugal (7th, up 1) and Italy (9th, up 1) are the only climbers within the top ten, which is completed by the Netherlands (8th, down 1) and Colombia (10th, down 1), with Germany (11th, up 2) now knocking on the door.
Elsewhere, Algeria (37th, up 4), Peru (38th, up 5) and Greece (42nd, up 6) have all made moves worthy of note, and Cameroon (49th, up 4) have returned to the top 50. Other African teams to have made significant progress in the ranking include Equatorial Guinea (88th, up 6), Zimbabwe (117th, up 7), The Gambia (128th, up 7) and Botswana (140th, up 7), the last of whom, the Zebras, have posted the biggest jump overall in terms of points gained (up 38.30 points).
There is further cause for celebration for Africa as two other CAF teams have climbed the most places (ten) in this edition of the ranking, namely Comoros (108th) and Sudan (110th), who came out on top against Tunisia and Ghana, respectively, in their recent home-and-away duels as part of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 qualifiers.
Thirty-two qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 26, 47 for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025, 79 Nations League matches and 17 friendlies were played during the recent international window, making October 2024 a particularly busy month of football and one that has led to a number of changes in the FIFA Men’s World Ranking.
(With inputs from Agencies)