Photo: Collected
World football’s governing body FIFA has published the men’s football team rankings in the middle of the UEFA Nations League. Portugal have improved in it; moving up two places, the team have risen to fifth. On the other hand, after losing three matches in a row in the ASEAN Cup, Bangladesh have dropped from 181 to 182.
Although there has been no other major change in the top ten, Brazil and Morocco have each gone down one place. The two teams each drew a friendly match in the just-concluded international break. On the other hand, Portugal won all four of their UEFA Nations League matches in this break – they beat Norway twice and Wales and Denmark once each.
After winning the World Cup, Spain have further consolidated their position as the top team by winning all of their first four Nations League matches. Besides beating England 3-2, they have defeated Croatia (twice) and the Czech Republic. Argentina, who beat Benin 3-0 on Tuesday night in Lionel Messi’s last match for the country, remain in second place. The other two places in the top four are held by France and England. Belgium, the Netherlands and Mexico complete the top ten list.
The biggest rise in the rankings is Rwanda’s; moving up nine places, they have risen to 119th. Their 2-1 win over Cape Verde, the team that lit up the World Cup, in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on 29 September is the main reason for this progress. The biggest fall in the updated list is Sierra Leone’s; having lost both their matches in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, they have dropped eight places to 130th. The rankings will next be updated on 18 November.
