Harimau Malaya, who have accumulated a total of 1,086.22 points, slipped 17 places following a 1-3 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group F match in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers yesterday.

The drop in rankings was also the result of a decision by the Asian Football Confederation to forfeit Harimau Malaya’s previous qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam.

Malaysia defeated Nepal 2-0 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on March 25 last year, and thrashed Vietnam 4-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10 last year.

However, on March 17, AFC’s disciplinary and ethics committee decided to declare that Malaysia lost both matches by 0-3 scorelines after Harimau Malaya were found to have fielded ineligible players.

The decision was made following the document falsification issue involving seven Harimau Malaya players – Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.