MALAYSIA’S WORLD RANKING AT ALL-TIME LOW – no. 174

Malaysia just 30 spots away from hitting rock bottom

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are 30 spots away from hitting rock bottom in the FIFA world ranking – joining teams like Anguilla, Bahamas, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Tonga.

In the latest FIFA world ranking released yesterday, the national football team have dropped eight spots from No. 166 to No. 174 – their worst in 23 years!

This puts them just 30 places away from the six teams who are tied at No. 204.

Even countries like American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa (No. 170) and Liechtenstein (No. 173) are ahead of Malaysia.

Malaysia, whose best ranking was No. 79 in 1993, have dropped 95 places in 23 years.

Their previous worst was at No. 171 last September.

The latest slide comes in the wake of the embarrassing 0-0 draw against lowly Macau in a friendly at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca last month.

The writing has been on the wall for some time, actually – especially since the 10-0 walloping at the hands of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a 2018 World Cup qualifying second round Asian Zone Group A match in Abu Dhabi on Sept 3.

It was Malaysia’s worst result since losing 8-2 to New Zealand in Kuala Lumpur almost 50 years ago.

National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who took over the hot seat from Dollah Salleh in January, said that “plans are under way to improve the ranking”.

“We have several matches lined up in May and June. We have to take advantage of these matches and collect as many ranking points as possible. This should help us move up the ranking, but we cannot afford any more hiccups,” said Kim Swee.

His immediate task is to prepare for the playoff against Timor Leste to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup Finals.

The home-and-away matches are scheduled for June 2 and June 7.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have also arranged three friendlies during the fasting month – against New Caledonia (world No. 191), Fiji (No. 182) and Papua New Guinea (No. 198).