Football: Sri Lanka drops to 205 in FIFA rankings

Sri Lanka has dropped down to 205 in world football rankings according to the latest update issued by FIFA on August 12.

Sri Lanka's recent losses to South Korea and Lebanon at the Qatar World Cup 2022 Qualifiers has been the reason behind drop in world rankings, according to the FIFA report.

Sri Lanka lost to Lebanon, 2-3 and South Korea, 0-5 in the qualifiers which was held in Seoul from June 5 to 9.

Earlier Sri Lanka was placed 204 in FIFA Rankings and Aruba, an island nation in the Caribbean region, was placed 205, but according to the latest rankings Aruba has moved up by four positions to 201 and Sri Lanka dropped down by a slot to 205.

In a similar tournament conducted regionally, Aruba recorded a 3-1 win against St. Simon Islands, which helped them earn a slot in global rankings. 

In addition, within the phase of three months, Sri Lanka also dropped down to the bottom in Asian Rankings, becoming the last of 46 nations from the region.

In 2015 Sri Lanka was ranked 194, and in 2017 the island nation slipped down to 200 in global rankings.

Sri Lanka's position in global rankings deteriorated after they were placed 205 in 2019 and 206 in 2020.

But Sri Lanka was ranked 204 by April 7 this year according to FIFA, after a number of top ranked teams experienced losses, helping the Indian Ocean island gain a position in global status.

Sri Lanka was ranked 206 when the current head coach, Amir Alagic took over the national side in February, 2020.

Pakistan, who was parallel with Sri Lanka in global rankings, is currently placed 198 in the world and 44th in Asia after two games of 2022 Qualifiers, but are currently serving a match ban by FIFA for misconduct. 

Belgium tops FIFA rankings followed by Brazil and France while Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, San Marino and Anguilla are ranked below Sri Lanka from 206 to 210 respectively.