India drop to 172nd, Belgium top FIFA rankings

New Delhi: India's slide in the global football rankings continued as they dropped five places to be 172nd in the latest FIFA charts released on Thursday, while Belgium created history by grabbing the top spot for the first time.

India were 167th last month. The dip follows poor performances in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers where India have lost all three group matches played so far. Recently, they lost to Turkmenistan on October 8.

India are at the bottom of Group D in the World Cup qualifiers and now have virtually no chance to even qualify for the Asian Cup by finishing third.

The Stephen Constantine-coached side will face Guam, who won in the first leg, on November 12.

Meanwhile, Belgium replaced World Cup 2014 runners-up Argentina, who are now third, from the top of the table. Reigning world champions Germany stay at the second place.

The 'Red Devils', one of the teams with a hopeful future given the young age of most of its players, improved its place by two places.

However, the greatest progress comes from Copa America 2015 champions Chile as they stand at the fifth place.

Portugal and World Cup 2010 holders Spain remained at fourth and sixth spots respectively.

Colombia dropped two places to be seventh, while five-time world champions Brazil slipped a place to be eighth.

World Cup 1966 winners England and Austria moved up one position and are placed ninth and 10th, respectively, while Uruguay are at 12th place after a jump of eight places. 

Four-time world champions Italy jumped four places to seize 13th spot, while Ecuador advanced eight places to 21st and Mexico 10 positions to 24th.

Wales dropped seven places to be 15th, while Turkey made a jump of 19 places to be 18th.