After the two narrow 1-2 defeats to Denmark and Bulgaria in two matches from Group B of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Malta dropped eight places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and is now ranked 142nd.

Malta is 49th among the other European countries. Lying just ahead of Malta are Luxembourg (126, up 14), Moldova (129, down 6), Kazakhstan (132, up 17) and Cyprus (134, down 11) while Liechtenstein (156, down 8), Faroe Islands (182, down 7), Andorra (200, up 5) and San Marino (207) lie behind Malta.

The next commitments for the national team are another two World Cup qualifiers – against the Czech Republic at Ta’ Qali on October 11 and against Denmark four days later in Copenhagen.

Meanwhile the 185 matches played in the past month have certainly left their mark on the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

In the top ten, only Spain’s ranking remains unchanged, and the world and European champions have managed to further extend their lead at the summit, where they have reigned since September 2011.

However, there has been a big shake-up just below pole position, where Argentina have ousted Germany out of second place after successfully qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. Uruguay (7th, up 5) are also among this month’s climbers, making it back into the top ten at the expense of Portugal (11th, down 4). There are currently four South American teams in the top ten.

Belgium continue to rise up the global ladder. The Red Devils are unbeaten in their Brazil 2014 qualifying campaign and, with their current ranking of sixth, have once more reached their best-ever position.

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