India Back In Top 100 FIFA Rankings
India are now the 18th-ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
After their recent string of good performances, India are back in the top 100 of the FIFA Men's World Rankings. The Blue Tigers did attain an improvement of a 4.24 ranking points riding on 5 wins and 2 draws in the seven matches that they played in June across the Intercontinental Cup as well as the SAFF Championship, the latest update in the Rankings sees them ranked 100th in the world.
However, perhaps even more significantly, India are now the 18th-ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)- a gain that could well be the differentitator in the dynamics of the World Cup qualifiers draw which will be held later in the month. While it has all been gains for India, Lebanon's defeat to the Sunil Chhetri-led Indian side meant they lost a ranking point and the two countries thus swapped positions in the AFC Nations ranking positions.
What that esseantially suggests is that India could now feature in Pot 2 in the draw for the second round of the World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, Lebannon losing a decisive point might see them slip to Pot 3. However, things could change quickly as India and Lebanon will be up against each other again in the semi-final of the SAFF Championship. Having said that, India have a 3.16-point advantage and that might have just got them a safe distance away from Lebanon.
Other than the two sides' face-offs in the SAFF Championship, India's 2-0 win over Lebanon in the Intercontinental Cup final was perhaps the biggest result that India were able to get in their favour. If there is no change in India's FIFA Ranking by the time they finish their SAFF CHampionship, it would mean they would be the lowest-ranked side in Pot 2 of the World Cup qualifiers draw. That would mean the Blue Tigers would not have face 8 of the 17 Asian nations ranked above them in the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers.
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