New Delhi: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said that the country's team can reach the top 50 in the FIFA rankings, according to a release issued by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Top officials, including AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, met Mandaviya on Thursday and briefed him about the existing AIFF-FIFA Academy in Odisha and the plan to build four additional AC facilities in various fields.

Such a plan should be prepared regarding FIFA's ranking.

"A detailed plan should be prepared and implemented so that India can reach within 50 in FIFA rankings in the next 10 years. India has the largest pool of young talent globally. The focus should be on identifying talent at the grassroots level. They should be taken forward along with coach development which will be important for sports development," Mandaviya was quoted as saying in an AIFF release.

The best ranking of the Indian football team has been 94

FIFA rankings began in 1992 and the Indian men's football team's best ranking was 94, which it achieved in February 1996. The team has managed to reach the top 100 on very few occasions. In the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday, the Indian football team is ranked 127th. The team has slipped two places from the October list. Japan, Iran, Korea,, and Australia are the regular Asian teams in the World Cup, ranked 15, 18, 23 and 26 respectively.