Canada’s bronze medal win at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 saw the North Americans reach their highest-ever position of fourth in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking.
This month’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament accounted for around 40 per cent of the 63 matches played in the last two months, with many of the remaining fixtures being friendly games.
Winning five of their six matches at Rio 2016, Canada not only matched their achievement of winning bronze at the London 2012 Olympics, they were rewarded with a massive 93-point increase in their rating to move up six places from tenth position. It is the first time that Canada have moved into the top five, surpassing their previous high of seventh place.
Canada’s fourth-place ranking was not the only notable achievement for John Herdman’s side. Their 93-point gain sets a new record in the 13-year history of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking, surpassing the 87-point gain by Cameroon in July 2015 and the 80-point gain by Equatorial Guinea in December 2008.
Despite an upset quarter-final defeat to Sweden on penalties at Rio 2016, USA remain top of the ranking. However, their lead over new Olympic champions Germany was cut by more than half to their lowest-ever rating of 2,137 points. Though the Swedes claimed their first-ever Olympic medal with silver at Rio 2016, the Scandinavians lost seven rating points to remain in sixth place. Quarter-finalists Australia dropped two places to seventh, while Olympic hosts Brazil dropped to their lowest-ever ranking of tenth after missing out on the podium. Other top-ten nations to slip were England and Japan, who both dropped one position to fifth and eight respectively.
Canada were also one of three teams to improve on their best-ever ranking. South Africa (48th) moved up four places after earning a goalless draw with Brazil in the group stage at Rio 2016, while Uganda (129th) moved into the ranking for the first time ever, despite a 4-0 friendly defeat to Kenya on 3 July. Faroe Islands (75th) were the next highest movers upward, jumping five places in the ranking after friendly wins over Lithuania and Latvia earlier this month. United Arab Emirates (76th) had the biggest drop, however, falling three places after a pair of friendly defeats to Luxembourg in late June.
Guam (80th) re-entered the table, while no teams disappeared from the ranking due to prolonged inactivity. As a result, 134 teams are currently ranked.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 23 December 2016.
Leader
USA
Moves into top ten
None
Moves out of top ten
None
Matches played in total
63
Most matches played
Canada (8)
Biggest move by ranks
Canada (4th), up 6
Biggest drop by ranks
United Arab Emirates (76th), down 3
Newly ranked teams
Guam, Uganda
Teams no longer ranked due to prolonged inactivity