The world ranking of the national football team hit a 10-year low! It is also important to fight for the "ranking".

The reporter reported coldly In the round of 18 in March, the national football team lost to Saudi Arabia and Australia in a row, and the world ranking fell by 4 places, and is currently ranked 94th, overtaken by Syria, and dropped from 13th to 14th in Asia, which is the worst world ranking of the national football team in the past 10 years. The worse world ranking will have more than just a face-saving impact on the national football team, because the world ranking will directly determine the future draw of the national football team in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. Brackets determine not only our opponents in the event, but also our schedule, so we should take the ranking very seriously.

The world ranking is too low, and the draw is too low, and the impact on the top 18 of the national football team is imminent. Due to the poor results in the previous Asian Cup and the round of 36, the national football team, ranked 88th in the world before the round of 18, could only be placed in the fifth pot. The final schedule is that the first three games will face the top three strong opponents Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia, and there will be two away games and one home, which will inevitably lead to a poor start and seriously affect morale. If the national football team can squeeze into the top 12 in Asia and enter the fourth pot before the game, there will be two home games in the first three rounds, and the third round will be able to play at home against Indonesia in the sixth pot. There will also be two back-to-back home games against Pot 5 and Pot 2 teams in November, with a much lighter schedule and a better chance of picking up points.

In the 2027 Saudi Asian Cup, if the national football team cannot enter the top 12 in Asia, it can only continue to be in the third pot (the Asian Cup is different from the World Cup). The 2030 World Cup Asian qualifiers will most likely follow the format of the round of 36 and the round of 18, and if the national football team cannot enter the top 12 in Asia in the world ranking in the round of 36, the current round of 18 will be placed in the fifth pot like this time.

In the round of 18 in March, the national football team lost to Saudi Arabia and Australia in a row, and the world ranking points dropped by 13.64 points. Although the net reduction points are not as good as Qatar (18.00 points), Bahrain (19.50 points) and Iraq (29.47 points), Syria, which did not participate in the round of 18, defeated Pakistan in the Asian Cup qualifiers, with a net increase of 4.34 points, and the national football team narrowly surpassed the national football team by 1.07 points, and the national football team fell to 14th place in the Asian rankings.

The Thai team, which also missed the round of 18, reached the final of the Southeast Asian Cup at the end of last year, and defeated Sri Lanka in the Asian Cup qualifiers in March, with a net increase of 1.70 points, and the gap with the national football team narrowed from 33.71 points to 19.87 points. Moreover, Thailand may further narrow the gap with us.

During the June international break, Thailand will play away to underdogs Turkmenistan in the Asian Cup qualifiers, while Indonesia, a popular naturalized legion, will play Bahrain at home in the Asian Cup qualifiers. Furthermore, Thailand also had three Asian Cup qualifiers with higher coefficient points in October and November, against underdogs Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka respectively. If the national football team fails to enter the World Cup Asian qualifier play-offs, it can only participate in warm-up matches with lower coefficient points in October and November, and the Thai team may even surpass the national football team in ranking points.

During the round of 18, the national football team led by Ivankovic lost all 6 games against the stronger Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia, and it was inevitable that the ranking points of the national football team would fall. Of course, in the first leg, we won the group fourth direct rivals Bahrain and Indonesia, all of which seemed to be a natural "strength", and it seemed to be a natural thing. But is that really the case?

Judging from Ivan's coping strategy and a series of points of view, this is his active strategic choice. You must know that only by striving to score points against strong teams can the national football team's Asian ranking be greatly improved and occupy a better position in the draw for the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers in the future. When Lippi first took over the national football team, he deliberately emphasized the importance of the world ranking, and therefore the possibility of scoring points in each game. Strength does not allow? The last national football team was still able to get draws on Saudi Arabia and Australia and get ranking points, why is it natural to get 3 points this time?

Of course, for example, has the strength of this national team decreased significantly compared with the previous one, and is the gap between the national team and the Asian strong teams widening? Specific issues need to be analysed on a case-by-case basis, and what I would like to emphasize here is that in the process of competing in the round of 18, any potential points that each opponent may have should actually strive for. At the very least, this puts forward a more flexible and practical game strategy for the team, and Ivan's way of playing all opponents with one formation and one idea obviously does not work.

As a comparison, we can see that in the top three teams, Bahrain and Indonesia each scored 5 points, which is not only very helpful for their world ranking points growth, but also improves the team's possibility of qualifying, and even greatly boosts morale. You can say that the ceiling of the national football team is not as good as Indonesia and Bahrain, but the home team missed a good opportunity to score points against Saudi Arabia, isn't it a microcosm of the current comprehensive passivity?

Returning to the theme of fighting for the "world ranking", we must also strive to score points against strong teams, not only to boost morale, but also to fight for a better position for the national football team in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers in the future, and avoid difficult opponents for a long-term strategy. After all, for the national football team, there are still Asian Cup and 2030 World Cup qualifiers in the future, and now we must start working hard for a better gear.