Belgium close up behind Argentina in latest world ranking
ZURICH: The August edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking shows a change in the top three, with Belgium (second, up one) swapping places with Germany (third, down one) behind leaders Argentina.
Below them, Chile (10th, up one) have entered the top ten at the expense of Holland (12th, down seven). The loss of points by Germany and the Dutch is due to the devaluation of last year’s World Cup matches.
Further down the ranking, the CONCACAF Gold Cup finalists have made good ground: Mexico (26th, up 14), winners of the trophy for the tenth time, have risen 14 places, while this year’s surprise package, Jamaica (55th, up 21), are now just outside the top 50 following a quantum leap of 21 places.
In addition to the above teams, Albania (22nd, up 14), Malawi (98th, up 10), Sierra Leone (104th, up 7), Mauritania (113rd, up 15), Swaziland (132nd, up 6), Guam (146th, up 8) and Guyana (152nd, up 7) all went up by more than five places in August.
The following teams have achieved their highest-ever position: Wales (9th, up 1), Austria (14th, up 1), Slovakia (14th, up 1), Albania (22nd, up 14), Congo (43rd, up 4) and Guam (146th, up 8). As the Cape Verde Islands (50th, up 2) and the Republic of Ireland (50th, up 2) are in joint 50th place, there are currently 51 teams in the top 50, a group that now includes Israel (47th, up 4) in place of Japan (56th, down 6) and Serbia (66th, down 23). As a result of this, the breakdown of teams in the top 50 per confederation now looks as follows: UEFA: 31 (up 1); CONMEBOL: 8 (unchanged); CAF: 8 (up 1); CONCACAF: 3 (unchanged); AFC: 1 (down 1); OFC: 0 (unchanged).
Of the 29 international “A” matches taken into account for this month’s ranking, 26 were CONCACAF Gold Cup matches and the remaining three were friendlies.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 3 September 2015.
Click here to view the complete ranking
To find out more about the calculation of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking click here
Summary
Leader Argentina (unchanged)
Moves into top ten Chile (10th, up 1)
Moves out of top ten Netherlands (12th, down 7)
Matches played in total 29
Most matches played Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, USA (6 matches each)
Biggest move by points Albania (up 166 points)
Biggest move by ranks Jamaica (up 21 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Germany (down 185 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Serbia (down 23 ranks)
