Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
THE FREE FALL continues for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz as they have now plummeted to a shocking all-time low of 103rd in the latest FIFA world rankings.
Since the start of the year, which began with the national team ranking 57th, it has taken an appalling 46 point tumble down the ranking and, by ex-tension, the regional standings.
Currently, in CONCACAF, where the team must finish in the top four to have any chance of making an appearance in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, Jamaica are 14th. Mexico remains the region's top team, followed by the United States, Canada and Honduras.
The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) standings have the Boyz weighing in at seventh - just below Barbados (sixth) and Guyana (fifth) and well behind the top four of Cuba, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
Last month's rankings saw the team equal its all-time low of 96 (December 1994) and it has now fallen another seven places.
Jamaica's biggest drop came in June following a largely unsuccessful tour of Asia by a 22-man local contingent. On that occasion, the team lost games to Vietnam and Malaysia, teams ranked several places below them, before being pounded 8-1 by 46th ranked Iran.
Inactive
The fact that the Reggae Boyz have been inactive since those friendlies has not helped matters. With the tour of Asia branded as an experimentation period by the Jamaica Football Federation a full-strength national squad was expected to return to action this month but two friendlies against African nations Ghana and Nigeria were cancelled.
The Jamaicans, who made their historic debut at the 1998 World Cup in France and have been ranked as high as 30, a position that they held in September 1998, are expected to begin their World Cup qualification campaign early next year.
CONCACAF RANKINGS
Ranking Team Pts Move
| (15) | 1. | Mexico 978 -2 |
| (18) | 2. | United States 886 0 |
| (51) | 3. | Canada 596 3 |
| (55) | 4. | Honduras 574 4 |
| (64) | 5. | Cuba 485 7 |
| (65) | 6. | Panama 483 1 |
| (66) | 7. | Costa Rica 476 -10 |
| (68) | 8. | Haiti 469 1 |
(73) | 9. | St. Vincent and |
| | Grenadines 428 24 |
| (78) | 10. | Trinidad and |
| | Tobago 414 -14 |
(92) | 11. | Guyana 362 11 |
| (93) | 12. | Barbados 359 16 |
| (100) | 13. | Guatemala 341 -12 |
| (103) | 14. | JAMAICA 319 -7 |
| (134) | 15. | Bermuda 202 1 |
| (141) | 16. | El Salvador 175 -4 |
| (144) | 17. | Suriname 160 -1 |
(145) | 18. | Antigua and |
| | Barbuda 156 -14 |
| (148) | 19. | Dominican |
| | Republic 143 -9 |
| (156) | 20. | St. Kitts and |
| | Nevis 107 -10 |
| | | (world ranking in | | | | parenthesis)
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