Why did Malaysia’s ranking in Asia stay at 23 despite FIFA decline?

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Malaysia's Asian Ranking Remained Stable Despite FIFA World Ranking Drop

Malaysia's standing within Asian football rankings has remained consistent at 23rd, even as the national team, Harimau Malaya, experienced a decline in the overall FIFA world rankings. This stability in the continental hierarchy occurred despite the team's performance in the 2023 Asian Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stages. While the specific mechanics of FIFA's ranking system can lead to such discrepancies, Malaysia's relative performance against other Asian teams appears to have maintained its established position on the continent.
FIFA Ranking System and Regional Considerations

The FIFA World Ranking system utilises a complex formula that considers match results, the strength of opponents, and the importance of matches. Points are awarded based on wins, draws, and losses, with victories against higher-ranked opponents yielding more points. While a team's overall performance, including results in tournaments like the Asian Cup, directly impacts its world ranking, regional rankings are derived from the same global points but reflect a team's position relative to others within a specific confederation. Therefore, a decline in the world ranking does not automatically translate to a proportional drop in continental standings if other teams in the same region also experience fluctuations or if Malaysia's points loss is less significant compared to their regional peers.
Malaysia's Asian Cup Performance and its Impact

Harimau Malaya's participation in the 2023 Asian Cup resulted in a two-spot drop in the global FIFA rankings, moving from 130th to 132nd. Their campaign included a 0-4 loss to Jordan, a 0-1 defeat to Bahrain, and a 3-3 draw against South Korea. These results, particularly the losses, contributed to a reduction in their ranking points. However, the impact on their Asian ranking at 23rd suggests that the points lost were not substantial enough to allow other teams within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to surpass them in the standings.
Relative Standing Among Southeast Asian Teams

Despite the overall dip in their FIFA standing, Malaysia maintained its status as the third-best team in Southeast Asia. This position places them behind Thailand, ranked 101st globally, and Vietnam, ranked 105th globally. This continued regional standing indicates that while Harimau Malaya's global ranking may have slipped, their performance relative to other teams in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) region has kept them in a consistent position. This suggests that other Southeast Asian teams may have also experienced similar or greater fluctuations in their own rankings, or that Malaysia's previous strong performances had built a sufficient point buffer to absorb the recent decline.

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Why did Malaysia’s ranking in Asia stay at 23 despite FIFA decline?

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