ZURICH: Belgium have taken over at the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time.

The Red Devils moved up two places to take over from Argentina (third, down two) and overtake world champions Germany (second, unchanged).

The biggest climber in the top 10 were Chile (fifth, up four), while England (ninth) and Austria (10th) each moved up one. This is the first time that Belgium, Chile and Austria have ever scaled such heights.

Six teams rosse by 10 places or more in the top 50 this month: Turkey (18th, up 19), Bosnia and Herzegovina (20th, up 10), Ecuador (21st, up 10), the Republic of Ireland (42nd, up 12), Paraguay (47th, up 14), and Serbia (49th, up 14).

Four teams shot up by more than 30 places: Chad (136th, up 39), Cyprus (76th, up 38), São Tomé e Príncipe (157th, up 36) and Turkmenistan (121st, up 34).

The composition of the top 50 for November showed little change, with the AFC gaining two teams through Korea Republic (48th, up five) and Japan (50th, up five) and Africa losing two, Cameroon and Congo each having dropped three places to 51st and 52nd respectively.

The other confederations have the same number of teams as last month, with the regional composition of the top 50 as follows: UEFA 31; CONMEBOL seven; CAF six; CONCACAF three AFC three; OFC nine.

The last world ranking of 2015 will be published on December 3 and could see Belgium take the Team of the Year title, should they retain top spot.

The Mover of the Year title will be awarded to the team who have gained the most points in 2015.

Current contenders are Turkey (up 430 points), Chile (up 331 points), Wales (up 330 points) and Austria (up 319 points).

A total of 172 international “A” matches were taken into account in the November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, bringing the total number of matches evaluated so far this year to 840.

Qualifiers for Euro 2016 (50 matches) and the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ (66 matches) played a significant role in some of the major changes to this month’s ranking.

Ranking summary

Leader Belgium (up 2)

Moves into top ten Austria (10th, up 1)

Moves out of top ten Wales (15th, down 7)

Matches played in total 172

Most matches played Ethiopia (5 matches)

Biggest move by points Turkey (up 224 points)

Biggest move by ranks Chad (up 39 ranks)

Biggest drop by points Wales (down 163 points)

Biggest drop by ranks Sudan (down 44 ranks)

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