Mexico and Italy back in Top 10 out of 160 international matches played in November
Ambar Bhattacharya, abptakmaa, Kolkata, 1st Dec 2020 : With no fewer than 160 full internationals played in November, including qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup™, CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and UEFA EURO 2020, the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking sees plenty of movement.
While the podium remains unchanged, Belgium have widened the gap on their immediate pursuers France. Third-placed Brazil are closing in on Les Bleus after extending their perfect start in South American qualifying for Qatar 2022.
Despite the lack of movement at the summit, there are some familiar faces back in the Top 10, with Mexico (9th, +2) and Italy (10th, +2) making their return after nine and four years respectively. Croatia (11th, -2) and Colombia (15th, -5) are the two teams dropping out.
A little further down, Romania (37th, +7) and Hungary (40th, +7) have also made impressive gains, while Egypt (49th, +3) and Cameroon (50th, +3) move into the Top 50 at the expense of Costa Rica (51st, -1) and Ghana (52nd, -4).
However, the biggest climbers this month are two other African sides: Equatorial Guinea (134th, +10) and Burundi (138th, +10). The former shone in back-to-back victories over Libya (111th, -9) in AFCON qualifying, while the latter first drew and then beat Mauritania (101st, -3) in the same competition.
Four other national teams have moved up five or more places in this month’s classification, namely: Latvia (136th, +6), Curacao (76th, +5), Azerbaijan (109th, +5) and South Sudan (163rd, +5).
Readers are reminded that, for the purposes of UEFA‘s preliminary draw for Qatar 2022 which will take place on 7 December 2020, the 55 participating teams will be divided into six pots on the basis of November’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
The method used to calculate positioning in the World Ranking is explained HERE.
Click here to view the complete ranking.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 10 December 2020.
Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10 Mexico (9, plus 2)
Italy (10, plus 2)
Moves out of top 10 Croatia (11, minus 2)
Colombia (15, minus 5)
Matches played in total 160
Most matches played Ethiopia (5 matches)
Biggest move by points Equatorial Guinea (plus 31 points)
Biggest move by ranks Equatorial Guinea, Burundi (plus 10 ranks each)
Biggest drop by points Libya (minus 31 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Libya (minus 9 ranks)
Newly ranked teams none
Teams that are no longer ranked none
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands
