Despite comical displays in recent matches, Malawi National Football Team has gone up three places on the latest Fifa rankings which were released Thursday.
The Flames are now on position 126 from 129 in the world with 1,133 points.
However, Malawi are still below Zimbabwe who have been inactive for almost a year due to a Fifa ban. The Warriors are on position 124 in the world.
The Flames drew 0-0 with Ethiopia in a 2024 Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at Zimpeto National Stadium in Maputo, Mozambique, recently.
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The result followed back-to-back 2-0 and 4-0 defeats to Egypt home and away respectively in the same competition.
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Football Association of Malawi Technical Manager James Sangala said the rankings are a true reflection of the Flames’ performance this year.
“I welcome the rankings but what will make me happy will be the day we break into the top 100 in the world. There is room for improvement,’’ Sangala said.
Malawi also drew 1-1 with Mozambique in a practice match in Mozambique early this month.
However, sports analyst Parry Chinyama questioned the ranking criteria.
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’’These Fifa rankings are quite strange. Malawi have failed to qualify for the Afcon finals and a few days later, we are hearing that they are up on the rankings. How on earth can this be? This is quite strange. When you consider the fact that we are coming from back-to-back defeats against Egypt, you tend to wonder what factors are considered when coming up with these rankings.
“But before that, we had also lost to Guinea in the same competition. I personally cannot be happy that Malawi has climbed three places. In all these competitive matches, Malawi did not score a goal. So one wonders where the rise on the rankings is coming from,’’ Chinyama said.
The Flames are expected to take part in the 2023 Cosafa Cup slated for next week in Durban, South Africa.
Malawi will face Zambia in the opening match on July 6 at King Zwelithini Stadium.
2022 Fifa World Cup champions Argentina are the highest ranked team in the world followed by France and Brazil, respectively. England are fourth in the world whereas Belgium are fifth.
In Africa, Morocco are still the number one ranked team whereas Senegal and Tunisia are second and third, respectively.
