It has been a busy few weeks for the world of football. With UEFA EURO 2020, the 2020 Copa America, the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and continental tournaments, as well as friendly matches all on the slate, no fewer than 348 international encounters have taken place since the last edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking was released.

Consequently, there has been a considerable amount of movement in the standings, although Belgium managed to retain their top spot despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Their last-eight opponents and eventual winners of the tournament, Italy, (5, +2), moved up into the top 5, just behind EURO runners-up England (4, no change). Just above that pair, Brazil (2, +1) and France (3, -1) swapped places.

Argentina (6, +2) reaped the benefits of a triumphant Copa America campaign, while the two Gold Cup finalists broke into the top 10. Victorious in that tournament and winners of the Concacaf Nations League as well, United States (10, +10) climbed no fewer than ten places, eight more than Mexico (9, +2), who, despite losing in the final of both competitions, now sit one spot above their continental rivals.

In addition, it is worth noting the impressive progress made by Gold Cup invitees Qatar (42, +16), who reached the semi-finals in the USA, thereby recording the largest climb of the month and equalling their highest-ever position in the ranking, which dates back to the first edition in 1993.

A handful of other teams that did not take part in regional tournaments, such as Sierra Leone (106, +8), Eswatini (146, +8), Puerto Rico (171, +7) and Mongolia (185, +7), still managed to gain ground courtesy of positive friendly results. The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking will be published on 16 September 2021.