Malta 150th in FIFA Ranking

Malta climbed one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking despite the two defeats in the EURO 2012 qualifiers against Israel and Latvia and is now 150th.

Since the last ranking list which was published on August 11, Malta played three matches – a 1-1 draw with FYR Macedonia in a friendly match in August at Ta’ Qali; a 3-1 defeat to Israel at the Ramat Gan Stadium and a 0-2 defeat to Latvia at Ta’ Qali in two EURO 2012 qualifiers.

Among the other European countries, Malta is still 51st. Lying just ahead of Malta are Azerbaijan (102, up 3), Armenia (105, down 9), Kazakhstan (126, down 1), Luxembourg (130, down 13), Faroe Islands (138, down 20) and Liechtenstein (149, down 8). Andorra and San Marino are currently 202nd and 203rd.

Malta’s next game is a EURO 2012 qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi. Georgia, ranked number 89, held Greece in a 1-1 draw away from home before sharing the spoils in a goalless draw with Israel in Tbilisi in their first two matches from Group F.

Meanwhile the results of the 159 ‘A’ international matches played over the last five weeks have caused some significant movement in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. World champions Spain are still on top, although defeat in Buenos Aires has seen them lose a quarter of their lead.

Germany (3rd) and Brazil (4th) have traded places, as have England (6th) and Uruguay (7th), with the two European teams benefiting from their successful start to UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying. Norway (14th, up 8) and Slovakia (16th, up 11) have both climbed into the top 20 for the same reason. Russia (25th, down 9) and France (27th, down 6) have lost considerable ground, in contrast to Turkey (21st, up 7), who are on the rise again.

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