FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: Belgium stay top, Palestine make gains

With very few matches having been played on the international front in the first month of the year, there is little movement in the first FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of 2020.

Only 15 friendlies have taken place since the last ranking update in December – including two games in late 2019 – so it is little surprise that the top 20 remains unchanged with Belgium, France and Brazil still making up the top three.

Some minor movement in the top 50 sees both Wales (23rd, down 1) and Paraguay (41st, down 1) fall a spot, while Ghana (46th, up 1) rise ever so slightly.

Palestine (103rd, up 3) are the first big climbers of 2020. Their success in January’s Bangabandhu Cup sees them leapfrog Estonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Mozambique and Kenya on the back of the month’s biggest move by points and rank.

Beaten Bangabandhu Cup finalists Burundi (149th, up 2), who like Palestine contested four matches in January, have climbed into the top 150.

Elsewhere, both Aruba (200th, up 1) and Pakistan (200th, up 1) have edged up the ranking after a rather quiet month in international football.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 9 April 2020.

Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10 none
Moves out of top 10 none
Matches played in total 15 (2 of which were in 2019)
Most matches played Burundi, Palestine (4 games each)
Biggest move by points Palestine (up 5 points)
Biggest move by ranks Palestine (up 3 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Costa Rica, Japan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka (down 3 points each)
Biggest drop by ranks Hong Kong, Seychelles (down 2 ranks each)
Newly ranked teams none
Teams that are no longer ranked none
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: Myanmar on the march as Venezuela hit record high

While the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking bears the marks of no fewer than 177 “A” international matches, there is little evidence of that fixture glut in the ladder’s upper echelons.

The top five remains unchanged and there is only one change in the top ten, with Croatia (6th, up 1) climbing for the second successive edition at the expense of Portugal (7th, down 1). There are, however, more significant changes further down the table, with Italy (13th, up 2), Poland (19th, up 2), Serbia (29th, up 4) and Nigeria (31st, up 4) all pushing their way upwards.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifiers in Asia have also made an impression. Myanmar (136th, up 11), for example, are the only team to have advanced more than ten positions, having done so thanks to impressive wins over Nepal (170th, down 3), Tajikistan (121st, down 5) and Mongolia (190th, down 4). Kuwait (147th, up 9) have also made a substantial jump on the back of their fine results in the Qatar 2022 preliminaries.

Yet perhaps the most significant success story of this edition is Venezuela (25th, up 1). While their rise might be more modest than those of others, La Vinotinto – due largely to a recent friendly victory over Japan (28th, unchanged) – have now ascended to their highest position since the ranking was introduced in 1993.

Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10 None
Moves out of top 10 None
Matches played in total 177
Most matches played Antigua and Barbuda, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Zambia (3 matches each)
Biggest move by points Malaysia (up 31 points)
Biggest move by ranks Myanmar (up 11 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Palestine, Nicaragua (down 27 points each)
Biggest drop by ranks Nicaragua (down 13 ranks)
Newly ranked teams None
Teams that are no longer ranked None
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands

Click here to view the complete ranking.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 19 December 2019.

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: Belgium Stay Top, Kosovo Reach Record High

Belgium remain top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking after an action-packed number of weeks in international football which saw 78 friendlies, 74 continental qualifiers and 60 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifiers take place.

Although the teams in the top ten remain unchanged, there has been some movement. France (2nd, up 1) and Brazil (3rd, down 1) have traded places, while Spain (7th, up 2) are the top ten’s biggest movers.

The Cayman Islands (193rd, up 11) and Grenada (160th, up 13) are the joint-biggest climbers by points, reaping the rewards after their successful showing in the Concacaf Nations League. Indeed, Grenada’s 13-place surge means that they are September’s highest climber by ranks.

Other notable upwardly mobile nations include Jamaica (47th, up 5), who have broken into the top 50, the Republic of Ireland (28th, up 4), Russia (42nd, up 4), Guatemala (133rd, up 11), Suriname (142nd, up 9), Montserrat (187th, up 9) and Djibouti (186th, up 9), who recently overcame Eswatini (150th, down 11) over two legs to advance to the second round of African World Cup qualifying for just the second time.

Meanwhile, Kosovo (119th, up 1) have been rewarded for their impressive performances in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying by reaching their best-ever position in the FIFA ranking.

The Cook Islands are not ranked in the latest standings due to not playing an international “A” match in the last four years. After their next international “A” match, they will be included in the ranking table again with their points total from July 2019, plus/minus the points won or lost in the new match.

Click here to view the complete ranking.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 24 October 2019.

Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10 none
Moves out of top 10 none
Matches played in total 212
Most matches played Iraq (7 matches)
Biggest move by points Cayman Islands, Grenada (up 28 points each)
Biggest move by ranks Grenada (up 13 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Chinese Taipei (down 25 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Eswatini, Nicaragua (down 11 ranks each)
Newly ranked teams none
Teams that are no longer ranked none
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands

FIFA/COCA-COLA WORLD RANKING FOR JULY 2016

* Argentina remain at the summit of the July FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

* France (7th position, moved up 10 places) and Italy (10th position, moved up 2 places) are the two teams to move into the top 10 this month while Uruguay (12th position, dropped down 3 places) and Austria (21st position, dropped down 11 places) dropped out of the top 10.

* The biggest mover by points this month is Wales (up 291 points)

* The biggest mover by ranks this month is New Zealand (up 54 ranks)

* Austria made the biggest drop by points this month (down 202 points)

* Belize made the biggest drop by rank this month (down 50 ranks)

Argentina
photo credit: Ludovic Péron
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

1 Argentina 1585 points

2 Belgium 1401 points

3 Colombia 1331 points

4 Germany 1319 points

5 Chile 1316 points

6 Portugal 1266 points

7 France 1189 points

8 Spain 1165 points

9 Brazil 1156 points

10 Italy 1155 points

11 Wales 1137 points

12 Uruguay 1130 points

13 England 1107 points

14 Mexico 1044 points

15 Croatia 1022 points

16 Poland 1011 points

17 Ecuador 1002 points

18 Switzerland 957 points

19 Turkey 915 points

19 Hungary 915 points

Top Ten African teams in World Ranking;

1. Algeria (32) 781 points

2. Côte d’Ivoire (35) 751 points

3. Ghana (36) 749 points

4. Senegal (41) 651 points

5. Egypt (43) 632 points

6. Tunisia (45) 627 points

7. Cameroon (53) 575 points

8. Morocco (54) 574 points

9. Congo DR (59) 555 points

10. Mali (61) 546 points

* Nigeria dropped down 9 places in the ranking this month. The Super Eagles are now ranked 70th in the World and 16th in Africa.