Indian men's football team drops six places to 133rd in FIFA rankings, worst in nine years

New Delhi | The Indian men's football team slumped to its lowest ranking in nine years as it dropped six places to 133rd in the FIFA chart issued on Thursday, courtesy two losses in June.

India lost to Thailand (0-2) in an international friendly on June 4 before suffering a defeat to lower ranked Hong Kong (0-1) in an Asian Cup qualifying round match, leading to head coach Manolo Marquez's parting of ways with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

The last time the Indian team had a worse ranking was in December 2016 when it was placed at 135. India's best ever ranking was 94 in February 1996.

The Indian team currently has 1113.22 rating points as against 1132.03 previously. It occupies the 24th place among 46 Asian countries led by Japan (17th rank).

Nothing has been going right for the Indian men's team. The loss against Hong Kong has put the side in a difficult position in its bid to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.

The team logged just one win from its last eight matches under Marquez's tutelage, the lone victory coming against Maldives in March.

This year, India have so far played four matches, out of which they have won one, drew another, and lost two. The poor results prompted the return of former skipper and iconic striker Sunil Chhetri to the squad but that has done little to improve the team's fortunes.

India's next scheduled international match is an away fixture against Singapore in the third round of Asian Cup qualifiers in October.

World champions Argentina leads the overall chart of 210 countries, followed by Spain, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Croatia.