Kathmandu, Apr. 5: Cricket and football are two of the most celebrated and followed sports in South Asia. However, while the majority of the South Asian countries have outperformed in cricket, the countries, including Nepal, are struggling in football.

As per the updated rankings of the men’s football team by FIFA on April 4, only Afghanistan has climbed the ranks out of the eight countries under the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation.

Afghanistan has climbed seven positions up the list to 151 out of 210 countries. Until February 15, Afghanistan was ranked 158.

Meanwhile, despite climbing up the list, Afghanistan is not the best team in South Asia as per the FIFA rankings. It is India.

India has remained the best South Asian football team despite sinking 19 positions since February. After falling by 15 positions to 117th in February, India has sunk further by four positions to 121st on April 4.

The decline in the ranks raises many questions about the development of football in the respective country, and Nepali fans have also expressed rage and dissatisfaction after the country’s position declined further. 

Nepal fell by three positions and is now ranked 178th. However, the football supporters of Nepal have found some positive sides as Nepal is not the lowest-ranked South Asian country. 

Out of the eight SAARC countries, only three countries rank higher than Nepal in FIFA Men’s World ranking. Alongside India and Afghanistan, Maldives is the third and only South Asian country to rank above Nepal.

Maldives is ranked 161st and its rank did not change in February as well as April. Nepal is followed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh and Bhutan, after falling by one position each, are ranked 184th and 185th respectively.

Similarly, Pakistan is ranked 195th while Sri Lanka ranks 204th as the lowest-ranking South Asian men’s football team.

The ranking was highly affected by the recently concluded matches of the Second Round of FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are the four countries playing in 

the Second Round.

Out of 36 Asian countries divided into nine groups, Nepal and Bangladesh are at the bottom of Groups H and I respectively, and India and Afghanistan, with one win and one draw each in four matches, are at second and third positions in Group A.

While Bangladesh has one draw in four matches (against Lebanon), Nepal has lost all four matches without scoring a single goal. 

Nevertheless, Argentina continues to sit at the top of the FIFA Men’s World Ranking. Similarly, Indonesia, with the most points (30.04) scored in the past three months, was the biggest climber in the ranking as it reached 134 from 142. On the other hand, Vietnam dropped significantly to 115 from 105 after losing most points (30.04).