The ranking of 101 elevated India to 11th ranked team in Asia. (Source: File) The ranking of 101 elevated India to 11th ranked team in Asia. (Source: File)

After securing a narrow 1-0 win over Myanmar in their third round opener of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, the Indian football team managed to win six games on the trot. Courtesy of the string of good performances over the past few months, the Indian football team has now achieved its highest FIFA rank of 101. This is their best ranking in the past couple of decades.

It has been quite a while since India has achieved this rank. India’s highest FIFA ranking achieved so far has been 94 which was attained in February 1996 while India were ranked 99 in November 1993 and 100 in October 1993, December 1993 and April 1996.

The ranking of 101 elevated India to 11th ranked team in Asia, thus, inching closer towards realizing larger dreams.

The last couple of years have been extremely encouraging for Indian Football, wherein the National Team has had 11 victories in 13 matches (including an un-official match against Bhutan) scoring a total of 31 goals.

These wins also include some historic results — 1-0 victory over Myanmar in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers – the first ever win in Myanmar in 64 years, and India’s first ever win in an international friendly in over a decade when they beat Cambodia 3-2 in an International Friendly. The 4-1 win at home for India last year against Puerto Rico was also commendable.

Post achieving the new ranking India will play Lebanon in their first International Friendly at home on June 7, 2017 before taking on Kyrgyz Republic at home on June 13 in their next AFC Asian Cup qualifier match.

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