KUALA LUMPUR: The national football team slid four rungs to No 170 in the latest Fifa rankings list for October, which was released on Monday.
After a 2-0 defeat to Hong Kong in an Asian Cup Group B qualifying match on Oct 10, Malaysia lost 16 ranking points to drop from joint-166th place to joint-170th with Cambodia on 110 points.
Malaysia are ranked joint-seventh in Southeast Asia behind the Philippines (No 116), Vietnam (121), Thailand (138), Myanmar (155), Laos (162) and Indonesia (165), and joint-33rd in Asia.
It is the national team's worst ranking since Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim became the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president in March, and just off the country's worst-ever position of No 174 reached in April and May last year.
The national team have not won in their last eight international matches, including five under new national coach Nelo Vingada, since beating Cambodia 3-2 in November last year at the AFF Cup.
Malaysia only managed a 0-0 draw against the Philippines in a friendly, and a 1-1 draw against Hong Kong in an Asian Cup qualifier during that run.
The current winless run is Malaysia's longest since 2013-14, marking the end of K. Rajagobal's four-year stint as national coach when the national team also went eight games without a win.
The defeat to Hong Kong, however, accounts for only one-third of Malaysia's 16-point slide, with the bulk of it due to a 20 per cent loss in value of a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Timor Leste in Oct 2015.
Conversely, a win over Hong Kong would have seen Malaysia move between five to seven places in the rankings on 145 points.
Following the abject display against Hong Kong, Tunku Ismail said in a panel discussion on Wednesday that he would take a "hands-on" role in the national team's management.
The FAM president also claimed that several players in the squad do not deserve to be called up, and added that he knew Malaysia were in trouble the moment he saw the starting line-up against Hong Kong.
Malaysia are scheduled to face North Korea in another Asian Cup qualifier at home on Nov 14, pending a decision by the Asian Football Confederation on the rescheduling of the thrice-delayed away fixture against the same opponents.