In the last 5 years, the Indian team has made its place in the top 100 in the FIFA rankings. The team, captained by Sunil Chhetri, has moved up a spot in the world rankings after strong performances in the Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Cup. After playing Pakistan, Nepal, and Kuwait, India performed brilliantly in the SFF Cup.
India made a bright start to the tournament with their second consecutive win and a 1-1 draw with Kuwait. Coming into the championship, India defeated Lebanon 2–0 in the final of the Intercontinental Cup. India's head coach Igor Stimac reacted to the change in rankings and said that India will have to maintain its position in the world rankings and raise the standards of its game even further. He said that "I am happy with this news, but we need to consolidate this position in our next few matches.
India skipper Sunil Chhetri has been in sublime form of late and has scored 5 goals in 3 matches in the SAFF Championship.
India will now take on Lebanon in the semi-finals of the championship on July 1. We need to improve at those moments of the game when our focus and concentration should be high and try not to lose anything.
They're getting very close to where I want them to be. Lionel Messi's team Argentina is first in the FIFA rankings with 1843.73 points, France is second with 1843.54 points and Brazil is third with 1828.27 points.
