Azkals skid to 139th in Fifa ranking

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines dropped two places in the Fifa world ranking as it finished the year at 139th spot.

The plummet came after the Azkals conceded a shock 0-2 loss to lower-ranked Yemen at Rizal Memorial in the joint qualifying tournament for the 2018 Fifa World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup  last Nov. 12.

The Philippines had started 2015 at 129th and reached a new all-time high of 124th in the July rankings after storming to a pair of impressive victories over Bahrain, 2-1, and Yemen, 2-0, in their opening assignments in Group H of the WCQ and Asian Cup qualifiers last June. Phl slipped to 125th, then 134th, then 137th as the Azkals got unfavorable results in their succeeding matches.

With its current position in the Fifa list, the country also conceded the No. 1 standing among Southeast Asians to Thailand, which jumped 11 places up to 133rd.

Phl, though, still outranks Vietnam (147th), Singapore (149th), Myanmar (158th), Malaysia (170th), Timor Leste (170th), Laos (177th), suspended Indonesia (179th), Cambodia (180th), and Brunei (185th).