Total of 184 internationals played earlier this month
Argentina remain on top despite hiccup
Bolivia, Samoa, Brunei Darussalam and San Marino make major strides
No fewer than 184 international matches – which involved teams from all six confederations – took place across the first week and a half of this month. FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers headlined the billing in the AFC, OFC and CONMEBOL regions, while encounters in continental competitions and friendlies were contested elsewhere. All that action has had a significant knock-on effect on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking.
It is getting tighter at the summit. After respectively being beaten 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy, Argentina (1st) and France (2nd) will be looking nervously in their proverbial rear-view mirrors. Spain (3rd) and England (4th) are looming large in pursuit, with Brazil (5th) and Belgium (6th) hot on their heels. Yet, despite the tremors, the top ten remains unchanged, continuing to be rounded off by the Netherlands (7th), Portugal (8th), Colombia (9th) and Italy (10th).
Indeed, there has been no movement in the top 15, but it is a different story thereafter, as Japan (16th, +2), IR Iran (19th, +1) and Denmark (20th, +1) have all made their mark in the chasing pack. Meanwhile, the main movers and shakers in the top 50 are Egypt (31st), Côte d’Ivoire (33rd), Tunisia (36th) and Algeria (41st), who have all risen five places, and Greece (48th, +6), who have gone one better.
Further down, Bolivia (83rd, +6) have gained more points than any other team in the ranking (+35.20). Kenya (102nd, +6) and St Lucia (164th, +6) have also made substantial headway; however, the biggest climbers in terms of ranks are Brunei Darussalam (183rd) and Samoa (185th), who have both leapt up seven spots on the back of a pair of wins apiece.
| Leader | Argentina (unchanged) |
| Moves into top 10 | None |
| Moves out of top 10 | None |
| Matches played in total | 184 |
| Most matches played | 178 matches (2 matches each) |
| Biggest move by points | Bolivia (plus 35,20 points) |
| Biggest move by ranks | Brunei Darussalam, Samoa (plus 7 places) |
| Biggest drop by points | Australia (minus 26,99 points) |
| Biggest drop by ranks | Qatar (minus 10 places) |
| Newly ranked teams | None |
| Teams that are no longer ranked | None |
| Inactive teams. | Eritrea |
While San Marino (210th) remain rooted to the bottom of the pile, their first victory in more than 20 years was nevertheless one of the stories of the month. La Serenissima’s previous triumph had been a 1-0 success against Liechtenstein in April 2004 and, after a 140-game winless run, they repeated the feat this past 5 September against the same opposition and by the same scoreline.
Click here to view the full ranking.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking will be published on 24 October.