Malaysia is the best in Southeast Asia on FIFA rankings

Seven Southeast Asian teams are present in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines (in Group F), Thailand, Singapore (Group C), Myanmar (Group B) and Malaysia (Group D).

Of these, Malaysia is the only team to have won all two matches. Specifically, the team of coach Kim Pan Gon (Korean) defeated Kyrgyzstan 4-3 on November 16 and beat Taiwan 1-0 on November 21.

Malaysia could rise up to 7 places in the FIFA rankings in November (Photo: AFC).

These results put Malaysia at the top of Group D, with a maximum of 6 points after two matches. Fortunately for Malaysia, they were drawn in a relatively easy group (in addition to Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei, Group D also includes Oman).

However, fortunately or unfortunately, Malaysia also moved up the rankings significantly after the two matches mentioned above in November.

According to calculations, Malaysia can be added up to 26.15 points, moving up 7 places in the upcoming FIFA rankings. Malaysia will move from 137th in October to 130th in November.

On the contrary, 6 other Southeast Asian teams participating in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia all dropped in rank.

The Vietnamese team was deducted a total of 0.67 points after two matches (winning 2-0 against the Philippines on November 16, losing 0-1 to Iraq on November 21), dropping one place to 95th in the world (last month, we were ranked 94th in FIFA).

The Vietnamese team is expected to drop one place, to 95th in the world (Photo: Manh Quan).

Thailand had one win (3-1 against Singapore on November 21) and one loss (1-2 against China on November 16), deducting a total of 0.4 points, dropping one rank, from 112th to 113th.

The Philippines had one draw (1-1 against Indonesia on November 21) and one loss (0-2 against Vietnam on November 16), deducting a total of 9.77 points. The Philippines will drop two places, from 138th in October to 140th in November.

Indonesia also had a draw (1-1 against the Philippines on November 21) and a loss (1-5 against Iraq on November 16), deducting a total of 5.81 points. The archipelago nation dropped one place, from 145th to 146th in the world.

Indonesia and the Philippines both dropped in rankings (Photo: AFC).

The remaining team in the group of 7 Southeast Asian teams participating in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, Myanmar, dropped 3 places.

Myanmar was deducted a total of 11.27 points after two heavy losses to Japan 0-5 on November 16 and North Korea 1-6 on November 21. Myanmar is also the Southeast Asian team that conceded the most goals in the first two matches of the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia (Myanmar conceded a total of 11 goals).

Four other Southeast Asian teams, including Cambodia (down one place, to 179th in the world), Laos (up one place, to 187th in the world), Brunei (down one place, to 192nd in the world) and Timor Leste (unchanged, to 197th in the world), will not participate in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

Therefore, their promotion or relegation in this period does not mean much. Moreover, the FIFA rankings of these teams are too low, so whether they change or not change their rankings is not noticed much.

Expected rankings of Southeast Asian teams in November (Photo: ASEAN Football).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/malaysia-thang-tien-nhat-dong-nam-a-tren-bang-xep-hang-fifa-20231126122650753.htm