New Delhi: India's football team stands at 124th place in the latest FIFA men's rankings released on Thursday. Meanwhile, Argentina, the reigning world champions and Copa America victors, occupies the number 1 position. 

Since June, India's national team has faced a decline, dropping three spots from their previous position due to their failure to advance to the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers following defeats to Qatar and Afghanistan. After briefly reaching a best-ever ranking of 99 last year, India's position has been on a downward trend.

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Regionally, India continues to hold the 22nd spot in Asia, trailing behind teams such as Lebanon, Palestine, and Vietnam.

On the global stage, Argentina (1st) remains firmly at the top after successfully defending their Copa América title. France (2nd) stays in close pursuit after making it to the semi-finals of EURO 2024.

Spain (3rd, up 5) has climbed into the top three for the first time in a while following their triumph at the European Championship, while England (4th, up 1) has moved ahead of Brazil (5th, down 1) after their performance in the tournament. Belgium (6th, down 3) has fallen out of the top five, with the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th, down 2) following closely behind.

Colombia (9th, up 3) rejoices at their return to the top ten, despite a narrow defeat to Argentina in the Copa América final. PTI