Malta retains 183rd place in FIFA Ranking

Following the defeat to Kosovo and a draw with Azerbaijan earlier this month, Malta retained the 183rd place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was published on Thursday.

Malta lies just behind Moldova (171, up 2) and Liechtenstein (182, down 4) and ahead of Gibraltar (190, up 8) and San Marino (209, down 5).

Next month, Malta plays Kosovo on November 17 and the Faroe Islands on November 20.

Photo: Copyright © domenic aquilina

Meanwhile after that last month, Belgium joined France in becoming the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking’s first-ever joint leaders, now the Red Devils are in sole possession of top spot, albeit by the narrowest possible margin – 1733 Ranking points to Les Bleus’ 1732. The top two remain out in front after a month in which each of them enjoyed a win and a draw, with Belgium and France beating Switzerland (8th, unchanged) and Germany (14th, down two) respectively in the UEFA Nations League and emerging with honours even from matches against the Netherlands (15th, up 2) and Iceland (36th, unchanged).

The Dutch rose on the back of a fine 3-0 Nations League win over their struggling German rivals, and other sides also profited from their success in the same competition. England (5th, up 1), for example, swapped places with Uruguay (6th, down 1) after winning 3-2 away to Spain (9th, unchanged), while Norway (48th, up 4) moved into the top 50 after back-to-back victories and Russia (41st, up 5) maintained recent momentum by staying top of Group 2.

Gibraltar (190th, up 8), though, were undoubtedly October’s biggest Nations League success story, and their first-ever competitive wins against Armenia (101, down 1) and Lichtenstein (182, down 4) are reflected in a record Ranking position – and this month’s biggest rise. The Gibraltarians are one of just six teams to have ascended more than five places, and the only team in Europe to have done so. The others all hail from Africa, where Egypt (58, up 6), Madagascar (100, up 6), Namibia (109, up 7), Zimbabwe (110, up 7) and Burundi (142, up 6) made significant gains on the back of strong results in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.