KUALA LUMPUR - The Harimau Malaya climbed up seven rungs to secure 130th position in the world, according to the latest update from the FIFA rankings today.
As per the website www.fifa.com, the national team led by Kim Pan Gon accumulated a total of 1,122.87 points, improving from the 137th position held since October 26.
This positive development follows Malaysia's success in Group D of the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers, defeating Kyrgyzstan 4-3 on Nov 16 and Taiwan 1-0 on Nov 21.
Malaysia gained an additional 26.15 points after these two victories.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) are on a mission to ensure that the Harimau Malaya are in the top 120 by the end of this year.
However, Malaysia still lag far behind other Southeast Asian countries, with Vietnam at 94th position and Thailand in 113th spot.
In the Asian zone, the top five teams are Japan, ranked 17th, followed by Iran (21st), South Korea (23rd), Australia (25th) and Saudi Arabia (56th).
Meanwhile, 2022 World Cup champions Argentina maintained their position as the number one team globally, followed by France in second place, England (third), Belgium (fourth), and Brazil completing the top five teams in the FIFA rankings. - BERNAMA