Malta fell one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was published on Wednesday and is now ranked 134th.

Among the other European countries, Malta is still ranked 47th lying ahead of Luxembourg (140), Liechtenstein (148), Kazakhstan (149), Faroe Islands (175), Andorra (205) and San Marino (207).

Malta plays Azerbaijan in a friendly match at the Bakcell Arena in Baku, on August 14, kick-off at 18:00 CET.

Photo: Copyright © Paul Zammit Cutajar

In September, Malta hosts Denmark and Bulgaria in two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Friday 6 and Tuesday 10.

Meanwhile the top 12 of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking remains unchanged, with Spain still leading the way ahead of Germany, Colombia, Argentina and the Netherlands.

Movement on the global ladder has nevertheless been provided by the CONCACAF Gold Cup – the continental showdown of teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean – which took place in the USA last month. The Americans, who won their fifth title, have risen three places to 19th on the back of their flawless performance, returning to the top 20 after an absence of two-and-a-half years as the best-placed CONCACAF team at the expense of Mexico (20th, unchanged). The Mexicans lost in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup to Panama, who have climbed 11 places to 40th as a result of their exploits.