Big jump for Bhutan in FIFA ranking

Bhutan has jumped 46 places from the foot of the FIFA rankings to 163rd on Thursday (9 April) after recording their first ever World Cup qualifying victories.

Bhutan had beaten Sri Lanka 1-0 in Colombo and 2-1 in Thimphu last month to advance to the second round of Asian qualifying and, after reaching their highest ranking, will be among the fourth seeds for Tuesday’s draw.

Bhutan was ranked the worst football team in the world and was ranked 209th by FIFA until recently.

Anguilla replaced Bhutan as FIFA’s 209th and lowest ranked international side after losing 8-0 on aggregate to Nicaragua in the first round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying last month.

Bhutan’s win against Sri Lanka had stunned the world. Now the himalayan country is hoping to tie with Japan in the Asian qualifiers. Bhutan’s footballers are good followers of the Japanese stars.