- 120 international fixtures played in October
- Top three unchanged in World Ranking
- Malta the biggest climber this month
THUR, 22 OCT, 2020-theGBJournal- Qualifying games for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, the play-offs for UEFA EURO 2021, and UEFA Nations League fixtures were among the 120 internationals played over the last month, resulting in significant movement in October’s edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
While the podium remains the same, the gap has narrowed between top-ranked Belgium and their immediate pursuers, France and Brazil, following the Red Devils‘ loss to England (4th) in the UEFA Nations League – their first defeat since November 2018.
However, there are changes to the Top 10: Spain (6th, +1) and Argentina (8th, +1) swapped places with Uruguay (7th, -1) and Croatia (9th, -1) respectively.
Further down the classification, Denmark (13th, +3), Algeria (30th, +5), Paraguay (35th, +5), Morocco (39th, +4), Scotland (45th, +4), and Hungary (47th, +5) all progressed, with the Magyars breaking into the Top 50 at the expense of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51, -1).
The biggest climber this month was Malta (180th, +6), who jumped six places courtesy of victories over Gibraltar (195th, unchanged) and Latvia (142nd, -5) and a draw with Andorra (145th, -8). Also worthy of note is the progress of Ecuador (60th, +4), Panama (77th, +4) and Israel (88th, +5).
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 26 November 2020.
Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Nigeria (32)
Moves into top 10 None
Moves out of top 10 none
Matches played in total 120
Most matches played several teams with 3 matches
Biggest move by points Hungary (plus 21 points)
Biggest move by ranks Malta (plus 6 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Romania (minus 28 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Romania (minus 10 ranks)
Newly ranked teams none
Teams that are no longer ranked none
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands
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