The Malaysia national football team has fallen 17 places to 138th globally following the loss to Vietnam and the AFC’s decision to void two wins.
kuala lumpur: The national football team Harimau Malaya has fallen from 121st to 138th in the latest world rankings released by FIFA.
Based on today’s latest update, Harimau Malaya, who have scored a total of 1,086.22 points, slipped 17 places after a 1-3 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers yesterday.
The drop in ranking was also influenced by the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) decision not to count two of Harimau Malaya’s previous qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam.
Based on the original results of the two matches, Malaysia defeated Nepal 2-0 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on March 25 last year and Vietnam 4-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10 last year.
However, on 17 March, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee decided to declare Malaysia losing both matches by a 0–3 scoreline after Harimau Malaya fielded ineligible players.
The decision was taken following the issue of document fraud involving seven Harimau Malaya players, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garcés, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, João Figueiredo, John Irazabal and Hector Havel.
