Tuesday 24 November 2020, 19:59

Mexico and Italy return to top ten

  • Mexico and Italy return to the top ten on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

  • Romania, Hungary, Egypt and Cameroon also made impressive jumps

  • This FIFA Ranking impacts UEFA's preliminary draw for Qatar 2022

With no fewer than 160 full internationals played in November, including qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and the UEFA EURO, 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 ten, 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 next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 10 December 2020.

LeaderBelgium
Moves into top tenMexico (9th), Italy (10th)
Moves out of top tenCroatia (11th), Colombia (15th)
Total matches played160
Most matches playedEthiopia (5)
Biggest move by pointsEquatorial Guinea (31)
Biggest move by rankEquatorial Guinea (10)
Biggest drop by pointsLibya (31)
Biggest drop by rankLibya (9)
Newly-ranked teamsNone
Teams no longer rankedNone
Inactive (not ranked)Cook Islands