Flames drop 26 places
Malawi national football team has plunged 26 places on the Coca-Cola Fifa rankings released yesterday.
The rankings reflect the team’s performance last month in Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier when they were thrashed by Zimbabwe 3-0 and a poor showing at the Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup 2016 in Namibia.
The Flames are 42nd in Africa and 133rd on the world rankings, down from last month’s 28th and 107th respectively.
The Flames are no longer a force to reckon with in the Cosafa region which now has South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Madagascar in top seven.
Football analyst Charles Nyirenda said the rankings show that something is wrong with Malawi football.
“We are on our way to the abyss. This is an indication that whatever we are doing is not working,” he said.
FAM general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda said the rankings were a true reflection of the national team’s recent performance.
The Flames were booted out of 2019 World Cup, 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and 2016 Cosafa Cup under fired coach Ernest Mtawali and his assistant Nsanzurwimo Ramadhan.
“We need to accept the reality that our performance has been terrible,” he said.
The ranking is one of the worst since 2007 when Malawi dropped to position 138.
Meanwhile, Wales have climbed above managerless England in the rankings following their superb run in Euro 2016.
Chris Coleman’s side have moved up 15 places into 11th ahead of England, who have slipped two places to 16th.
Despite reaching the last 16 at the Euros, Northern Ireland dropped two places to 28th, while Scotland fell to 50th after failing to qualify.
Portugal have climbed into sixth place after winning Euro 2016, while previous holders Spain are now down to eighth.
Argentina remain top despite losing the final of the Copa America Centenario in June. The four teams behind them —Belgium, Colombia, Germany and Chile_ remain unchanged.
France, who were beaten by Portugal in the Euro 2016 final last Sunday, have jumped 10 places into seventh, while Italy are back in the top 10 after their impressive run at Euro.
Croatia and Poland also enjoyed big climbs to 15th and 16th place respectively, while New Zealand are the biggest movers, with their triumph at the OFC Nations Cup lifting them 54 places to 93rd.
Austria, who failed to win a Euro match, are down 11 places to 21st, whereas Venezuela—who reached the Copa America quarter-finals—are into the top 50, climbing 31 places to reach 46th. n
