Nearly four months have gone by since the last FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking came out, in which time more than 300 internationals have been played.

Not only has the European qualifying competition for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 got under way but the qualifiers for next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup and CAF Women Africa Cup of Nations have also been taking place. And as you might have guessed, all that action has had quite an impact on the December World Ranking.

Things remain unchanged at the top, however, with USA (1st, -) retaining first place, a position they have occupied since 2017, and Sweden (2nd, -) and Germany (3rd, -) remaining second and third respectively. Yet behind the three frontrunners it is all change. France (4th, +1) have shifted up one place to fourth, leapfrogging the Netherlands (5th, -1), who have paid the price for recent results against the Czech Republic and Japan.

Spain (9th, +1) have also climbed up one rung on the ladder to move into an all-time high of ninth, while Switzerland (17th,+3) were the biggest movers in the Top 20, rising three places to 17th.

The most impressive results are to be found further down the Ranking. Nobody picked up more points over the period than Lebanon (140th, +5), who moved up five places to 140th courtesy of the haul they obtained in beating the United Arab Emirates and Guam. In terms of places, Montenegro (85th, +13) outdid everyone, scaling 13 slots to reach 85th, thanks in small part to a win in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Aside from Spain, Northern Ireland (46th, +2), Venezuela (52nd, +4) and the Philippines (64th, +4) have all achieved Ranking highs this December. Meanwhile, no fewer than eight nations have joined the global women’s hierarchy, some of them for the first time (Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan) and others after many years of absence (14 in the case of Benin and Liberia).

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 25 March 2022.