KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Malaysian football hit an all-time low in the Fifa rankings after sliding to 174th position in the latest ranking list issued by the world governing body for football, today.
Malaysia who started the year in 171st place, moved up to 166th spot in February and March but dropped drastically after some poor results in competition and international friendly matches.
Malaysia lost 0-2 to Saudi Arabia in their Group A World Cup 2018/Asian Cup 2019 match on March 24 and played a scoreless draw against Macau, ranked in 190th in the Fifa ranking.
The latest position pits Malaysia among countries that pale in comparison when it comes to facilities for football, especially Samoa (170), Timor Leste (175), Bangladesh (177) and Nepal (179).
Malaysia's best ever ranking was 75th position in 1993.
Meanwhile, Philippines, the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 host, climbed 19 spots to take up 116th spot, the best achievement of a country from South East Asia.
Copa America 2015 runner up, Argentina snatched the top spot from Belgium with 1,532 points after positive results in the South American Zone 2018 World Cup Qualifying matches recently.
Belgium who have been at the top since Nov last year have 1,352 points while 2015 Copa America champion Chile moved into third spot with 1,348 points.
The Fifa ranking list involves 209 countries. — Bernama
