Spain remain peerless
As expected, there are no great changes in the first edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of the new year. Spain continue to lead the way, ahead of the Netherlands and Germany. The only change in the top ten sees Croatia (9th, up 1) and Egypt (10th, down 1) swap places.
Spectacular moves are also thin on the ground further down the ranking, with only 12 teams within the top 50 changing places. There is greater movement around position 100, where China PR (79th, up 8) and Qatar (105th, up 9) have made the biggest leaps forward. The hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ recorded a surprise victory over Egypt and are now aiming to break into the top 100. Belarus (37th, up 1), Hungary (41st, up 1) and Antigua and Barbuda (103rd, up 3) have all achieved their highest position since the introduction of the world ranking. The first highlight of the year is currently under way in Qatar, where 16 national teams are vying for the AFC Asian Cup. All 32 matches will be reflected in the February edition of the ranking and are sure to lead to some reshuffling of the pack.
For once, there was almost no action at national-team level in most confederations. Only 35 friendly matches have been taken into account in the current ranking, 23 of which were played before the turn of the year.
Spectacular moves are also thin on the ground further down the ranking, with only 12 teams within the top 50 changing places. There is greater movement around position 100, where China PR (79th, up 8) and Qatar (105th, up 9) have made the biggest leaps forward. The hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ recorded a surprise victory over Egypt and are now aiming to break into the top 100. Belarus (37th, up 1), Hungary (41st, up 1) and Antigua and Barbuda (103rd, up 3) have all achieved their highest position since the introduction of the world ranking. The first highlight of the year is currently under way in Qatar, where 16 national teams are vying for the AFC Asian Cup. All 32 matches will be reflected in the February edition of the ranking and are sure to lead to some reshuffling of the pack.
For once, there was almost no action at national-team level in most confederations. Only 35 friendly matches have been taken into account in the current ranking, 23 of which were played before the turn of the year.
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