India drop down to 117 in FIFA rankings after disappointing AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign
The Indian men's football team had a disastrous campaign at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. India suffered three consecutive defeats, failing to win a solitary game at the championships. Moreover, they were unable to score a single goal in all of their group-stage matches.
India's FIFA ranking took a major hit as the Blue Tigers dropped 15 places following their poor display at the continental tournament. The terrible performance cost the team 35.57 points.
India were ranked 102 before the start of the AFC Asian Cup. The team has now dropped down to 117 in the latest FIFA rankings. Moreover, this is India's lowest ranking since 2017, in contrast to their peak that year at 96. This comes as a greater setback for the Blue Tigers than their display in the tournament itself.
Since the start of the championships, the team's ranking has only declined with each game, with the team not being able to produce a single goal.
How India's ranking declined throughout the AFC Asian Cup
India's campaign at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup did not begin on a positive note as they faced a 0-2 defeat against Australia.
After that, India dropped four positions down to 106 in the rankings. The team failed to script a comeback in their next game against a strong Uzbekistan side. They suffered another humiliating loss, going down 0-3, thus losing two matches on the trot.
The loss to Uzbekistan also cost India in terms of their ranking, as they slipped four more positions to find themselves ranked 111. Facing Syria in their final AFC Asian Cup group-stage fixture, India once again went down, facing a 0-1 defeat.
The team lost 15.51 points from their loss against Syria. They further dropped six places to be finally ranked at 117 in the latest FIFA rankings. Therefore, the Blue Tigers dropped by a total of 15 places after the championships.
As mentioned earlier, this is also India's lowest-ever ranking since 2017. The Blue Tigers had never dropped below 109 ever since Igor Stimac took charge of the team.