Bangladesh Improve FIFA Women’s Ranking Despite Asian Games Setbacks

Bangladesh have climbed one place in the FIFA Women’s World Ranking despite a disappointing performance at the recently concluded Asian Games in Japan. The team, led by players including Rituparna Chakma, have moved from 107th to 106th.

Bangladesh played three matches at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. They suffered a humiliating 10-0 defeat to North Korea in their opening match before losing 6-0 to South Korea in the second game. Despite conceding 16 goals in the two matches, the defeats had only a limited impact on their ranking points.

Bangladesh lost just 0.06 points against North Korea and 0.28 against South Korea. The small deductions reflected the nearly 100-place gap between Bangladesh and the two opponents in the rankings. However, Bangladesh earned a goalless draw against Myanmar in their final group-stage match. The result added 4.64 points to their tally, taking their total to 1,175.35.

Last year, Bangladesh defeated Myanmar to qualify for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals for the first time. The achievement also earned the team a place in FIFA’s headlines after Bangladesh recorded the biggest ranking improvement in the relevant ranking period.

Meanwhile, the draw affected Myanmar’s ranking. The team dropped one place from 55th to 56th and lost 5.54 points. Myanmar had been ranked nearly 50 places above Bangladesh.