India ranked 157th in latest FIFA rankings

NEW DELHI: The Bob Houghton magic has failed to reflect in the India's dipping football rankings, which slid another nine spots to finish the year at a lowly 157th in the latest FIFA tables.

India, which failed to advance past the group stages at the Doha Asian Games, has fallen to such lows that it has only 41 of the 198 FIFA members ranked below it.

India had risen as high as 117th in the rankings in 2006 itself, but that seems a distant memory now.

India has also plummeted to 32nd place in the Asian Football Confederation standings, which are led by Iran, ahead of Australia and Uzbekistan.

Brazil was named the top team in the world for the fifth straight year, ahead of world champions Italy.