Muscat: Oman dropped six places to place in the 80th spot in the latest Men’s FIFA world rankings. Moreover, Oman lost 17.29 rating points from 1324.89 to 1307.6. The Red Warriors now stand between Equatorial Guinea (79th spot) and El Salvador (81st spot). In Asia, Oman's team is ranked 11.
The big drop followed after Oman’s disappointing show in the recently concluded 2023 AFC Asian Cup Championship in Doha. Oman ended their Asian journey with only two points from two draws against Thailand (0-0) and Kyrgyzstan (1-1) before they began their campaign with a 2-1 loss against Saudi Arabia. Oman’s coach Branko Ivankovic was sacked after the conclusion of the group stage matches of the Asian event.
Meanwhile, Jaroslav Silhavy, who replaced Ivankovic as head coach, arrived in Muscat on Friday to begin his duties officially. Silhavy had signed his agreement two weeks ago. It is expected the newly appointed coach will start his first tasks very soon with a domestic camp as the national team will gear up for the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers. He will also observe a few matches in the top-tier league in the forthcoming rounds. Then, he will announce the national squad that will take part in the upcoming gathering.
As for the Men’s FIFA world rankings, there were no changes in the pecking order. The World Cup champions Argentina remained in the top followed by France and England. The Asian Cup Champions Qatar and African Nation Cup champions Cote d'ivoire moved up the ladder. Qatar moved up 21 positions while the African nation moved up 10 places. The runners up of the AFC Asian Cup, Jordan, made it to the 17 spot. Despite their elimination in the quarterfinals, Japan remained as the top Asian team and was placed in the 18th spot.
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