After going without a game for over a month since the Kyrgyzstan win back in June, the Indian National Football team dropped one place to 97^th in the latest edition of FIFA ranking.  Canada who were previously ranked 100^th overtook India to 95^th position after their two drawn games against Costa Rica and Honduras pushing us one spot behind.

India had touched the 100 barrier in May for the first time in over two decades. After which the wins against Kyrgyzstan Republic and Nepal propelled India to 96^th position. India reached their best ever FIFA rank of 94^th back in 1996 which Stephen Constantine and his men would like to repeat soon.

India will have a chance to boost their rankings this month with the Tri-nation series in Mumbai. India will face Mauritius (Ranked 160^th) and St. Kitts and Nevis (Ranked 125^th). Although both the sides are lower ranked then India, one can expect St. Kitts to provide a tough challenge. Ranked 73^rd in March of this year, the team from Caribbean lost huge points after their loss against Georgia and Armenia (Ranked 72^nd) in June.

Also Read: Tri- nation series shifts to Mumbai

India’s current main target is to qualify for the Asian Cup 2019. The Tri-nation competition will be seen as the preparatory games for the Indian team for their Asian games qualifier opponents Macau in September. India are currently at the top of the group after they defeated Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan Republic in a similar score line of 1-0.

India are scheduled to face St. Kitts & Nevis and Mauritius in the tri -Nation Tournament from August 17 in Mumbai.

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20 October, NEW DELHI: India moved to their best-ever FIFA RANKINGS since August 2010 when they jumped 11 places to move to 137 in the October FIFA Rankings released today (October 20, 2016). India who defeated 114^th ranked Puerto Rico in an International Friendly in Mumbai in September garnered 230 points for the month.

It was last in August 2010 that India were ranked 137 which stayed India’s best ever FIFA Rankings since then.

National Coach Stephen Constantine sounded delighted but wasn’t willing to read too much into it.

“When I came over for my second stint, one of my tasks was to improve our FIFA Rankings. With the results which we have had so far, it is clear that we have succeeded,” he told www.the-aiff.com.

“It’s been a total Team effort. Unless Mr. Patel (AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel) and Mr. Das (AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das) allowed me to do the things and the manner I wanted it to be done, this won’t have been possible ever,” he stressed.

“But this is just the beginning of the long-term plan which we envisage for Indian Football. I am certainly not over the moon as I feel my Team can achieve much more,” he stated.

India were ranked 171 when Constantine took over as National Coach for the second time in February 2015 and slipped further to 173 in March 2015 in the FIFA ladder even before Constantine could have his first game in-charge against Nepal, which India eventually won 2-0 on aggregate.

Constantine mentioned about the impact the National Team has made after reducing the average age from around 32 to 24.

“We have been able to reduce the average age of the Team from around 32 to 24 which is very significant indeed,” he quipped.

“The AIFF Academies were set with a purpose and if you look at my Team, there is continuity. We have introduced so many youngsters from the AIFF Youth Development setup and also from the AIFF scouting network,” he maintained.

-AIFF Media Team

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