Bangladesh move up in FIFA ranking

Bangladesh moved from 192nd position to 188th after the latest FIFA rankings were published yesterday.

They climbed four spots and gained two points to make the jump to 188th and have 909 rating points thanks to their 1-0 win over Cambodia in a FIFA friendly match on March 9. The latest rankings meant that the men in red and green overtook Guam (on 907 points) in the AFC standings to move into 41st position from 42nd.

The rankings also meant that Bangladesh will be one of six unseeded teams from among 46 in the Asian zone when the draw for the first round of the joint qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the Asian Cup 2023 are made on April 17th.

Coach Jaime Day was pleased with the move and was not all too worried about being in the joint World Cup and Asian Cup Qualifiers' unseeded pot.

“Really pleased for all the staff and players following their ranking,” he said. “We knew that was going to be a possibility so we will now just look forward to the challenge ahead.”

They will face either of Malaysia, Cambodia, Macau, Laos, Bhutan or Mongolia -- ranked 35th through to 40th respectively in AFC rankings -- in a double legged qualifier match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the Asian Cup 2023.