SINGAPORE: Despite two successive losses in November, Singapore moved up three places in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday (Nov 23).
The Lions fell to their lowest-ever position in October’s FIFA ranking list when they placed at 173.
November’s ranking sees the national team tied at 170 with Nepal, Cuba and Cambodia on 98 points. This after losing 3-0 to Bahrain in a friendly on Nov 14 and going down 1-0 to Lebanon in an Asian Cup qualifier on Nov 9.
The dismal loss to Bahrain extended their winless run to 13 international matches. Singapore’s last win came on Nov 13 last year, when they defeated Cambodia 1-0 in a friendly.
Meanwhile, Malaysia dropped four places from October’s rankings to place at 174, which equals their worst-ever ranking from April and May last year.
The Malaysians lost 4-1 to North Korea in the Asian Cup qualifier on Nov 9, a result which cost them 13 points on the FIFA rankings. The defeat meant Malaysia failed to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Malaysian football team have not won in their last 10 international matches since beating Cambodia 3-2 at the 2016 ASEAN Football Federation Cup last November.
The Philippines is the highest ranked South-east Asian nation at No 118, followed by Vietnam (125), Thailand (132) and Indonesia (154).
