Just three months ago, Bangladesh celebrated its biggest-ever jump in the FIFA Women’s Rankings, climbing an incredible 24 places—from 128th to 104th. But in the latest rankings released today, the team has dropped eight positions, ending their short stay near the top 100.
Four Consecutive Defeats Trigger Ranking Decline
Bangladesh played four international matches in the last quarter and unfortunately lost all of them. During the October window in Thailand, they suffered heavy defeats of 3-0 and 5-1 in two friendly fixtures.
Returning home for a tri-nation series in Dhaka, the results did not improve. Bangladesh fell 1-0 to Malaysia and 2-1 to Azerbaijan, sealing a disappointing four-match losing streak that contributed to the fall in the rankings.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘 100,” 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.”
Butler’s High Defensive Line Under Scrutiny
British head coach Peter Butler continues to deploy a high defensive line—an approach that has sparked criticism. The team conceded eight goals across the Thailand friendlies alone due to this tactical setup. Despite the backlash, Butler has remained firm in his philosophy.
The defeats to Azerbaijan and Malaysia were seen as a missed opportunity. Playing at home, Bangladesh had a chance to break into double digits in the rankings. Instead, the strategy backfired, resulting in the eight-place slide.
Past Success Contrast With Recent Form
Just earlier this year, Bangladesh achieved a historic first by qualifying for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, defeating a strong Myanmar side on their home turf. They also held higher-ranked teams Jordan and Indonesia to back-to-back draws, which played a major role in their dramatic rise up the rankings.
“𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆,” 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍.”
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