Thursday 24 October 2019, 08:00

Top three hold firm amid big gains 

While 184 recent international matches have left their mark on the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, those at the very top remain unaffected by the movement around them.

Belgium (1st, unchanged) still lead the way from France (2nd, unchanged) and Brazil (3rd, unchanged), although top-ten rivals Uruguay (5th, up 1), Croatia (7th, up 1), Argentina (9th, up 1) have at least edged closer to the summit.

But the most significant rises are to be found further down the Ranking, where the in-form quartet of Ukraine (22nd, up 3), Japan (28th, up 3), Turkey (32nd, up 4) and Russia (37th, up 5) are among the more notable climbers.

Jumps of ten or more places have also been made by a clutch of teams outside the top 50, namely Nicaragua (137th, up 11), South Sudan (162nd, up 11), Barbados (160th, up 10) and São Tomé and Príncipe (180th, up 10).

And there is fresh celebrate, too, for Kosovo (114th, up 5), who can again reflect with pride on their best Ranking position to date.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 28 November 2019.

LeaderBelgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10None
Moves out of top 10None
Matches played in total184
Most matches playedAlgeria, Morocco, Guinea, Libya, Bangladesh (4 matches each)
Biggest move by pointsSão Tomé and Príncipe (up 29 points)
Biggest move by ranksNicaragua, South Sudan (up 11 ranks)
Biggest drop by pointsMauritius (down 29 points)
Biggest drop by ranksMauritius (down 12 ranks)
Newly ranked teamsNone
Teams that are no longer rankedNone
Inactive teams, not rankedCook Islands