Malta remains third from bottom in Europe but falls two places to 149th in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was published on Thursday.

Lying just ahead of Malta are Moldova (121, up 2), Georgia (126), Luxembourg (129, down 2), Liechtenstein (130, up 2), Azerbaijan (131, up 5) and Kazakhstan (139). San Marino are 180th and Andorra 201st.

Malta takes on Georgia in a friendly match on March 25 before the EURO 2016 qualifier against Azerbaijan on March 28.

The AFC Asian Cup and CAF Africa Cup of Nations have accounted for movement aplenty on February’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, despite the top ten remaining unchanged.

Côte d’Ivoire (20th, up 8) edged Ghana (25th, up 12) on penalties in the latter’s final, while its losing semi-finalists, Congo DR (46th, up 11) and hosts Equatorial Guinea (49th, up 69), have made huge climbs to reach the top 50 for the first time since the introduction of the global ladder. Congo (49th, up 12) have also profited from their performances in the tournament to ascend 12 spots.

Meanwhile new Asian champions Australia (63rd, up 37), beaten finalists Korea Republic (54th, up 15), United Arab Emirates (66th, up 14), Iraq (94th, up 20), China PR (82nd, up 14) and Iran (41st, up 10) have all climbed at least ten places. Iran’s rise means that Asia once again has a team in the top 50.