Malaysia has moved up one spot from an all-time low of 171st to 170th in the latest Fifa world rankings list issued today.
The national team’s ranking improved despite Malaysia losing 6-0 to Palestine and 2-1 to the United Arab Emirates in two 2018 World Cup qualifying fixtures in November.
Malaysia is now at level No 170, a position it shares with Timor Leste on 127 points, which is unchanged from the previous list last month.
The national team are ranked joint-32nd in Asia and joint-sixth in Southeast Asia. A series of poor performances this year, culminating in a record 10-0 mauling by UAE in Abu Dhabi in September, saw Malaysia’s ranking tumble to No 171.
The national team, under caretaker coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee, halted the poor run by beating Laos 3-1 in a friendly and Timor Leste 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in October but it was not enough to significantly improve Malaysia’s fortunes.
Belgium retained top spot in the list while Argentina and Spain moved up to second and third respectively as world champions Germany tumbled from second to fourth.
South American champions Chile round out the top five and are followed by Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, England and Austria.
