National coach Bob Houghton has failed to check India's recent slide in the FIFA world rankings as the team fell five slots to 148th in the latest chart.
India went down 1-2 to Yemen last week to complete an all-lose record in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
India also suffered the embarrasment of losing the top spot in the South Asian region as well. That honour went to tiny Maldives, who climbed three places to 145th. Sri Lanka at 156th and Bangladesh at 158th are the next highest ranked teams from the sub-continent.
Among Asian teams, India has also slid to 27th place. Iran, who climbed five spots to 38th spot, is leading the Asian teams.
Ironically, FIFA has suspended the Iran Football Federation from all international activity for government interference in matters of the sport.
Australia, which dropped two places to 39th is close behind, while the third spot in the continent went to surprise packet Uzbekistan, who jumped a whopping 14 places to 45.
The Central Asians leapfrogged pedigreed teams like Japan (47th), South Korea (51st), and Saudi Arabia (64th).
Brazil continue atop the overall rankings, closely followed by world champions Italy, while Argentina gained a place to third at the expense of France. England, Germany and the Netherlands hold on to the next three spots.
{{/usCountry}}Brazil continue atop the overall rankings, closely followed by world champions Italy, while Argentina gained a place to third at the expense of France. England, Germany and the Netherlands hold on to the next three spots.
{{/usCountry}}Portugal move up a place to eighth, ahead of African powerhouses Nigeria, who gained two notches to enter the top ten. The Czech Republic lost two places to be 10th. Spain has fallen out of the elite list.