Malta climbs one place in FIFA Ranking

Malta climbed one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and is now ranked 182nd.

Lying just ahead of Malta are Moldova (162, up 1), Kosovo (164, up 1) and FYR Macedonia (166, down 1). Behind Malta are Liechtenstein (184, up 3), Andorra (200, up 3), San Marino (203, down 1) and Gibraltar (205).

Malta will be in action later this month in a match from Group F of the European Qualifiers leading to the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Slovakia on March 26 at the National Stadium.

Meanwhile with only four ‘A’ international games considered for the March edition there are few changes in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. South American heavyweights Argentina and Brazil remain in first and second respectively, while reigning FIFA World Cup™ champions Germany stay third.

The top 20 are unchanged from February except for two notable exceptions. Poland (12, plus 2) reached their best ever world ranking, joining Wales in joint 12th position for March. Egypt meanwhile (20, plus 3), broke into the top 20 while Iceland (23, minus 3) fell thanks largely to a 1-0 defeat in a friendly against Mexico played on 8 February. An honourable mention goes to Burkina Faso (36, plus 2) who, like Poland, reached their best ever position in the Ranking.

There were several small changes across the top 50 for March. Most notably three teams improved their position by three or more ranks: Egypt (20, plus 3), Senegal (28, plus 3) and the Czech Republic (42, plus 4).