After losing 1-0 to Slovakia in a friendly match and 2-0 to Croatia in the first match from the EURO 2016 qualifiers, Malta dropped five places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was published on Thursday and is now ranked 155th.

Malta is still ranked 49th in Europe, just behind Georgia (110, down 15), FYR Macedonia (112, down 36), Luxembourg (127, down 18) and Kazakhstan (127, up 4). Behind Malta are Liechtenstein (172, down 5), Faroe Islands (179, up 4), Andorra (203, down 4) and San Marino (208).

Malta will now host Norway on October 10 and Italy on October 13 in two EURO 2016 qualifiers.

Meanwhile 2014 FIFA World Cup™ finalists Germany and Argentina have slightly extended their lead over the chasing pack and remain unchallenged at the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. They are followed in third position by Colombia, who have swapped places with the Netherlands.

The Oranje have paid dearly for their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Czech Republic in their opening qualifying match for UEFA EURO 2016. For their part, Colombia have equalled their highest-ever position, Los Cafeteros having previously achieved third in July and August 2013. In the top ten, meanwhile, Brazil (6th, up 1) and France (9th, up 1) have gained ground, while Uruguay (7th, down 1), Spain (8th, down 1) and Switzerland (10th, down 1) have each dropped a place.