Malaysia now ranked 134th in the world

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian football team have climbed up one spot to number 134 in the world based on the latest FIFA world ranking today.

According to the www.fifa.com website, the Harimau Malaya squad had accumulated 1,107.58 points to move up from the 135th position they had occupied since June 20.

The national team's last international outing was in the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers last month, where they drew 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan and beat Taiwan 3-1 in their Group D matches.

The Harimau Malaya squad will be in action again when they compete in the 2024 Merdeka Football Tournament at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Sept 2-10. Three teams - defending champions Tajikistan, Lebanon and the Philippines - have confirmed their participation.

Malaysian football was rocked recently by the sudden resignation of head coach Kim Pan Gon, who stepped down citing personal commitments.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi then announced that assistant head coach Pau Marti Vicente of Spain had been promoted to acting head coach and assisted by E. Elavarasan.

In addition, assistant coach Park Bobae, goalkeeping coach Cho Junho, fitness coach Jihyeon Park and performance analyst Lim Jaehun will stay on to help Vicente, 41, and Elavarasan as per their contract.

-- BERNAMA