India going through a golden period of football and the best is yet to come: Vijay Goel

The Indian National Football Team achieved its best-ever FIFA Ranking since February 1996 as they were ranked 96 in the July, 2017 according to latest FIFA Rankings. In the process, India are currently placed 12th in Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

India’s best-ever FIFA Ranking till date stays 94 which was attained in February 1996 while 99 stayed India’s second-best FIFA Ranking which was also achieved in November 1993.

Commenting on the latest ranking, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel said that we are going through a golden period of football and the best is yet to come. He said that with the upcoming FIFA U-17 Football World Cup in India (in October, 2017) and the ongoing Mission 11 Million programme which aims to take football across India and among 11 million kids, India will surely be the next big bright spot in global football.

Shri Goel said that the present FIFA ranking doesn’t mean that India have achieved much. We need to stay focused on the challenges to overcome the difficulties to realize the full potential in sports. He said, his Ministry is committed to provide the best facilities to the players, coaches and support staff.

More on this:

-As far as Asia is concerned, India are the 12th highest ranked team in the continent, while Iran lead the chart at the 23rd spot.

-India’s best-ever FIFA ranking till date stays 94, which was attained in February 1996, while 99 was India’s second- best, achieved in November 1993.

-The national team has been on an upsurge with a string of impressive results leading to a climb of 77 places over the last two years.

-The team has now won 13 of its last 15 matches and is unbeaten in the last eight games (including the unofficial match against Bhutan).

-India were ranked 171 when Stephen Constantine took over as national coach for the second time in February 2015 and slipped further to 173rd in March 2015 in the FIFA ladder even before the gaffer could have his first game in charge against Nepal, which India eventually won 2-0 on aggregate.

-This comes as a huge boost ahead of our next AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against Macau on September 5, 2017.

-Confederations Cup champions and reigning world champions Germany have overtaken Brazil to be the top team in the world and are followed by Argentina at third spot, Portugal and Switzerland.

-A qualification spot in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 is what the AIFF aims at this moment. That would be India’s second AFC Asian Cup stint in eight years, the last being in Doha in 2011.