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Football is the second most popular sports in India after cricket. Although the Indian national football team does not have much success at International level, the team ranks 96^th in the FIFA rankings. If you too are a football fan and interested in getting the Latest News From Indian Football, then you can look out for the most reliable sources to get latest and updated news.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Qualifier rounds for Asian teams are canceled again and are postponed to 2021. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be held in Qatar. The Asian Football Confederation announced on Wednesday that the Qualifying matches are canceled right now in view of rising cases of coronavirus in many of the Asian countries. If you are a football enthusiast, then you have come to the right place. You can get the Latest News From Indian Football any time you want.

The Top 10 Teams of FIFA 2022

The West has been qualifying matches for the last couple of months. The top team holding the rank in the Qualifying rounds is Belgium for the past five months. The top 4 positions are left unchanged. After Belgium, France, Brazil, and England come in as second, third, and fourth, respectively. Currently, Portugal, the reigning champions of the European and the UEFA Nations League, holds the fifth place. Some of the newest players will be introduced in the teams after November before the next Qualifying Round of 2021 begins.

The top 10 European teams are listed below. The winner of the top 10 teams will get a direct chance to the final tournament in Qatar. Three more teams will get the chance to qualify for the play-offs in the tournament of 2022, held in Qatar. Rankwise, the top 10 teams are Belgium, France, Brazil, England, Portugal, Uruguay, Spain. Croatia, Argentina, and Colombia.

Football News in Asia

In Asia, the Indian Football Team did not get any action due to the postponement of the Qualifying rounds due to the coronavirus pandemic. The original schedule was stated that the rounds would start in October. However, due to the rising numbers of coronavirus cases, the Asian Football Confederation has decided to postpone all the Qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup to next year. The last match played by the Indian Football Team was against Oman in Muscat in November 2019. The Indian team lost to its opponent with a score of 0 to 1. Although the chances of India being in FIFA is still unclear, it is evident that India is still spotted to appear for the 2023 Asian Cup. The team was supposed to play against Qatar on October 8 and again Afghanistan and Bangladesh in November.

Final Take

There is a bunch of news about football, from the ISL to the other major leagues like Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga. Stay updated anytime you want to hear about your favourite game. Not only is it a reliable source, but it is also frequently updated every now and then.

The Indian men’s football team is currently placed at the 109^th position, according to international soccer governing body FIFA. From November 2019 to July 2020, amidst the pandemic, the team’s rank had remained unchanged, as per the latest news from Indian football. India has a total of 1187 points and has neither gained or lost a point since July.  

Change of plans

India’s remaining matches in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualification matches in Group E were originally to be held in March 2020. With the Covid-19 flaring up during the same time, the matches were unfortunately postponed to the year 2021. Prior to this, India was to host Qatar on October 8 and go to Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the next month.  

International rankings

Both Portugal and Spain have gained one place in their rankings, at 5^th and 7^th places, respectively. Belgium, France, Brazil, and England are at the top of the chart in the same order. Other countries that have gained a position in rankings include Italy (12^th), the Netherlands (13^th), as well as Germany (14^th). Russia, which had hosted the previous FIFA World Cup, is at 32^nd position. However, after its victories over Hungary (52^nd) and Serbia (31^st), it gained a mammoth 6 points. Qatar, the host for the 2020 FIFA World Cup is ranked at the 55^th position.

India has a Croatian football coach

Since his appointment in May this year, ex-Croatian football player and current coach Igor Stimac has been moving forward in the right direction, leading to positive news from Indian football. He is clear that his job is not to nurture the country’s players but to use his style of football to derive success. After India’s 1-1 draw with Syria in the Intercontinental Cup, this is what he had to say, “I read some comments that the coach should be nurturing these players. As I see football, that’s absolutely wrong. When you give orders to players, they follow. Nurturing is for academy football. This is not academy football and I am not an academy coach.”       

Ever since his appointment, the Croatian has led the Indian men’s football team to one win and a draw in five matches within the King’s Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. His first draw came with 18 year old Narender Gehlot’s maiden goal. He has summed up his vision for India’s footballers in the following statement, “I was not brought here to give just few wins and losses and be nowhere in the middle of somewhere. It’s easy to play against certain teams below the range and get the wins. But to feel better as a team it takes time, courage and passion. I warned the nation… this way we choose to play we will need a lot of sacrifice and suffering. That is how these young talented kids will grow”.

More goal scorers needed

After the last match of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers with Oman, Igor pointed out India’s need for more potential goal scorers. He believes that though the team is fighting hard, it needs more accuracy.