Indian football's glorious 24 hours - national team makes big jump in FIFA rankings

Indian football seemed to be stuck in a loop of mediocrity when they slumped to an all-time low of 171 in the FIFA rankings in 2014. Despite climbing up to the top 150 by 2016, there were not many encouraging signs for the team. But on Thursday, a slight ray of hope emerged as the Indian national team, coached by Stephen Constantine, have climbed up 11 places to 137th in the latest FIFA rankings.

Receiving a reshuffle after last week's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, India have now reached their best ranking since placing 134 in October 2009. The national team, coached by Stephen Constantine, defeated Puerto Rico in an international friendly in September and now has 230 points in the recent rankings.

The Blue Tigers now stand above the likes of Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Thailand. At the top, Argentina maintained their first position despite losing to Paraguay in the latest qualifiers followed by Germany and Brazil. Belgium and Colombia lost places to be ranked fourth and fifth respectively.