KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Harimau Malaya, despite being beaten 2-0 by China in Tianjin, China, on Tuesday, has climbed one spot to 161st position in the FIFA world football ranking.

National coach Datuk K. Rajagobal said this placed Malaysia ahead of Nepal (163rd), Bangladesh (166th), Sri Lanka (168th) and Pakistan (170th), but behind Thailand (139th), the Philippines (141st), Vietnam (153rd) and Singapore (159th).

In Asia, Malaysia moved up one spot to 30th out of 46 countries.

Spain dislodged Germany from the number one spot out of 209 countries after their recent results in friendlies and the World Cup qualifying round. Argentina came in second and Germany third. — Bernama