The Philippines slid down once again in the latest FIFA world rankings released Wednesday.
After dropping one step last June, the Philippines fell three more points to rank 152nd in the global football ladder and 24th in Asia. However, the Azkals still remain third in Southeast Asia behind leaders Vietnam (120th) and Thailand (135th).
The Azkals played only two friendly matches since the previous rankings were released last month, a 2-2 draw against Indonesia last June 5 and a 3-0 victory over Guam last June 12.
The Philippines reached its highest ranking in history at 148th last April after the Azkals’ third place finish in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup. Its all-time low ranking was at 195th in 2006.
Aside from the Philippines, many countries also suffered significant drops in the rankings. Global football powerhouse Brazil, for one, got booted out of the top 10 after losing six points to have their lowest ranking in history at 11th. Meanwhile, Southeast Asian leaders Vietnam fell by 22 points to settle for 120th.
After successfully defending its European title, Spain remains on top of the rankings, followed by Germany, Uruguay, England and Portugal to complete the top five.
Japan, ranked 20th in the world, still leads countries in the Asia zone, followed by Australia (23rd), South Korea (28th), Iran (50th) and Uzbekistan (65th).
Every month, world football body FIFA calculates the world rankings depending on the result of the match (a win, a loss, or a draw), importance of the match (i.e. a friendly or a World Cup match), and the strength of the opponent based on the rankings.
source: interaksyon.com
