Kapuls improve ranking

AFTER outstanding back-to-back performances on the international stage, the Papua New Guinea men’s national football team has climbed  the Fifa World Rankings up 14 places to 156.
Although the move did not change their third-place position in the Oceania region, Papua New Guinea now sit only four places below Tahiti, who moved down the rankings three places to 152.
New Zealand continue to sit at the top of the region, retaining their ranking of 112.
New Caledonia and Solomon Islands also made positive moves on the table, with the Francophones moving up two places to 165 and their fellow Melanesians making an impressive eight-place climb to 180.
Polynesian nations Samoa, American Samoa and Cook Islands all moved up one place to sit equal at number 189, but Tonga’s recent inactivity resulted in them moving down one place to 206.
Fiji and Vanuatu showed no movement in the hierarchy, remaining at 181 and 170 respectively.
A year of record-breaking success for the Kapuls is responsible for PNG’s massive shift, starting with their OFC Nations Cup campaign on home soil last year, which doubled as the 2018 Fifa World Cup Oceania Stage Two qualifiers.
The Flemming Serritslev-led team dominated in the group stage of the competition, continuing on to the knockout stage of the competition, as well as qualifying for Oceania’s Stage Three.
After narrowly beating Solomon Islands in the semi-final, PNG reached the final stage of the OFC Nations Cup for the first time.
The Kapuls battled New Zealand to a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes before conceding in a penalty shootout, ending the match 4-2 to the All Whites.
Following their Nations Cup campaign, PNG played two home-and-away matches against 157th-ranked Malaysia, winning the home leg 2-0 in June last year and just falling short in the away leg with a 2-1 loss in November.
A friendly against 28th ranked Iran in November saw a heavy 8-1 defeat, but the competitive match proved worthwhile preparation when Papua New Guinea took on Tahiti in their first matches of the soccer World Cup Oceania qualifiers in March.
Their success on the international field has attracted attention from around the world, and opportunities have opened for Kapuls to play football in the US, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Netherlands. This has only strengthened the team more, as overseas-based players return to the national team bringing new experience and styles of football. PNG will have a chance to further improve their reputation as a growing football force when they take on the Solomon Islands on June 9 and 13 in their last matches of the World Cup Oceania qualifiers.