KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s FIFA ranking has taken another severe hit, plunging further down the global standings after a 3-1 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers yesterday.
According to FIFA’s latest live rankings, Harimau Malaya have slipped to 138th in the world with 1,086.23 points, dropping three places from 135th just a week ago.
More alarmingly, the national team have now fallen 17 spots from their position of 121st in January.
FIFA clarified that the live rankings remain provisional until all matches are officially recognised as ‘A’ internationals.
The sharp decline has been compounded by disciplinary action from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which annulled two of Malaysia’s previous qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam.
In the original results, Malaysia had secured a 2-0 victory over Nepal at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on March 25 last year and a commanding 4-0 win against Vietnam at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10.
On March 17, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee ruled both matches as 3-0 forfeits against Malaysia after the team was found to have fielded ineligible players.
The ruling stemmed from allegations of document falsification involving seven players — Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
Malaysia’s slide had already begun earlier, having been ranked 116th in November, after FIFA also nullified three international friendlies against Cape Verde, Singapore and Palestine over the same eligibility issue.
Those matches had originally seen Malaysia draw 1-1 with Cape Verde and record wins over Singapore (2-1) and Palestine (1-0).
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee later overturned the results, awarding 3-0 defeats to Malaysia in all three fixtures for fielding ineligible players.
The series of punitive decisions has significantly undermined Malaysia’s standing in the global rankings, marking one of the most dramatic drops for the national side in recent years.
For the record, Malaysia’s lowest-ever FIFA ranking came in 2018 when they fell to 178th in the world. – April 1, 2026