India capped off a memorable year by finishing in the 135th position in the FIFA rankings, their highest in six years. India had reached the 142nd position in the table at the end of the 2010 season.

The achievement is commendable as Stephen Constantine’s side were at a lowly 163rd in January 2016. Between June to October, the side climbed 26 spots to reach 137 in the table before surging ahead by a couple of places in December.

The Indians started the year with silverware after downing Afghanistan 2-1 to lift the SAFF Championship. In March, the Blue Tigers lost both their FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers – to Iran and Turkmenistan – and were booted out of contention, finishing bottom of their group.

The side bounced back, though in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers against Laos, beating them 1-0 away and registering a resounding 6-1 victory at home. The Indians also won 3-0 in Bhutan but what stood out in the year was their 4-1 thrashing of Puerto Rico (ranked 38 places above India at the time) in Mumbai during a friendly.

Argentina finished the year on top of the FIFA rankings, followed by Brazil and Germany. There were no other major changes in the top ten.

In Asia, India are ranked 22nd while Iran, at 29th in the overall rankings, are the continent’s top team. In order to get an easier seeding for the upcoming final round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers starting March 2017, the team must be placed in the top 24 Asian teams by the time the draw for the qualifiers is made.

FIFA.com