While Maldives has climbed one rank higher on the monthly FIFA Ranking last month, we are ranked globally at the 175th place. Afghanistan, which is ranked 1st in the area, is placed 134th in the global ranking, while India, ranked 2nd in the area, is globally at the 156th. Bhutan, which has been climbing up the rankings recently, is ranked 3rd in the region due to its global placing of 164th. Bangladesh, ranked 170th globally, is placed 4th in the area, while at 5th place is Pakistan with a global rank at 171st. Placed 7th is Sri Lanka, which is globally ranked at 182nd and finally Nepal with a global rank at 184th. Maldives’ low ranking … why? The Maldives National Football Team is placed low on the FIFA Ranking due to insufficient opportunities to compete in international matches, and suffering defeat during most of the international matches they do get a chance at. With Bulgaria’s Velizar Popov selected as the coach of the National Team, Maldives competed in six international matches this year and triumphed in only one. The performances of the team during the other matches were lackluster. Coming up is a challenging match for the team. In the upcoming Russia 2018 World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) matches, Maldives will compete on 8 September against a formidable force dominating Asia and Football – China. Chances of climbing up the FIFA Ranking are greater if the team can bring about good results in matches against higher ranked countries. The scores of the matches that Maldives competed in this year are: • Maldives 0 – 2 Tajikistan • Maldives 0 – 1 Qatar • Maldives 0 – 2 Hong Kong • Maldives 1 – 3 Mayotte • Maldives 2 – 1 Seychelles • Maldives 0 – 4 Madagascar Apart from the WCQ rounds, upcoming matches for Maldives this year include the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in December in Trivandrum, India. For the National Team to increase their ranking before the SAFF Championship, they need to bring in good results in international matches. First place holder in the FIFA Ranking this month is, once again, Argentina. Belgium moved up one rank to 2nd, while the current World Champion Germany is placed 3rd, followed by Columbia at 4th place, Brazil at 5th and Portugal ranking 6th. The rest of the Top 10 countries on the ranking are Romania, England, Wales and Chile respectively. Losing its place in the Top 10, Spain went down to 11th place. While Italy is placed at 16th, the host for the 2016 UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Euro2016, France, is ranked 23rd on the global ranking.