KUALA LUMPUR - The off-field controversy facing the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has not slowed the momentum of the Harimau Malaya squad, which have climbed to 116th in the Fifa world rankings.

In the latest update released late last night, Peter Cklamovski’s squad rose two spots compared with 118th last month.

Malaysia were ranked 131st in April and have since consistently moved up the ranks.

Thailand remain the best Southeast Asian team at 95th, followed by Vietnam (110), Indonesia (122), the Philippines (136) and Singapore (151).

Japan continue to dominate the Asian standings at 18th in the world, followed by Iran (20) and South Korea (22).

Spain retain their status as the world’s number one team, followed by Argentina in second place and France in third.