Sunil Chhetri-led Indian football team climbs to 99th spot in FIFA Rankings after victorious SAFF campaign

The Indian men's football team on Thursday achieved sub-100 FIFA ranking for the first time since 2018 as it moved up one spot to 99th after its SAFF Championship triumph. India had beaten strong teams Lebanon and Kuwait on penalty shoot-out in the semifinal and final respectively in the SAFF Championships in Bengaluru earlier this month.

Lebanon also gained two places to be just below India at 100th spot while Kuwait moved up four places to be at 137th in the latest FIFA chart issued on Thursday. West Asian countries Lebanon and Kuwait were invited in the SAFF Championships to ensure strong competition in the tournament.

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India now have 1208.69 points. India's best FIFA ranking was 94th, attained in 1996. The country had also reached 99th spot in 1993 and 96th in 2017 and 2018. It was placed at 100th last month.

Overall, world champions Argentina continued to be at the top, followed by France, Brazil, England and Belgium. In Asia, Japan led the chart at 20th spot, followed by Iran (22), Australia (27), Korea (28) and Saudi Arabia (54) in top five.

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