KUWAIT CITY, June 23: Kuwait national football team dropped by one spot in the new FIFA world ranking after failing to qualify in Asian Cup 2023. Kuwait now ranks 148th globally and 28th in Asia. Morocco advanced its lead among Arab countries from 24th spot to 20th above Tunisia which rose by 5 places to 30th spot. Egypt was placed 40th ahead of Algeria which rose by 3 places.

Qatar rose by 2 places and was placed on 49th spot, Saudi Arabia dropped by 4 places to be placed on 53rd spot ahead on UAE on 69th, Iraq on 70th, Oman on 75th, Bahrain on 85th, Jordan on 86th, Syria on 89th, Palestine on 94th and Lebanon on 100th spot.

New classification will be listed on Aug 29th, current top 10 ranking are as below

1 Brazil
2 Belgium
3 Argentina
4 France
5 England
6 Spain
7 Italy
8 Netherlands
9 Portugal
10 Denmark

Meanwhile FIFA has approved bigger 26-man squads for the World Cup in Qatar, deciding Thursday to extend soccer’s relaxation of rules that help coaches and players during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was expected from the FIFA Bureau – comprising the presidents of FIFA and soccer’s six confederation – after 23 - player rosters were expanded for recent continental championships.

Adding three players to the typical World Cup roster follows UEFA doing the same for the European Championship last year. There were 28-player squads also approved for the Copa América tournament in South America last year and at the African Cup of Nations in January.

The extra numbers help the coaches of the 32 teams cope with possible outbreaks of virus cases. It also means additional players are already following health protocols within the camp in Qatar rather than be brought from their home country.

The squad size change will send a total of 96 extra players to the World Cup being played from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18. The 28-day tournament compares to 32 days four years ago in Russia. Most of the extra players will likely come from European clubs whose domestic seasons must pause by Nov. 13 for the first World Cup held during the northern hemisphere winter. Squads will be together for just one week before the tournament kicks off instead of the usual preparation time of about two weeks.