Malta lost one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking following the defeats to Norway and Croatia last month and is now ranked 158th.

Among the other European countries, Malta is ranked 50th. Just ahead of Malta are Georgia (111, down 1), Azerbaijan (115, down 10), Lithuania (123, down 7), Armenia (127, down 36), Kazakhstan (131, up 11), FYR Macedonia (139, down 7), Luxembourg (146, down 4) and Moldova (154, down 22). Behind Malta are Liechtenstein (163, down 7), San Marino (196) and Andorra (205).

Malta plays a friendly match against Jordan in Turkey next Wednesday.

Meanwhile Belgium top the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time in history. They have jumped two places on the November edition to replace previous leaders Argentina (3rd, down 2) and world champions Germany (2nd, unchanged).

The biggest climbers in the top ten are Chile (5th, up 4), while England (9th, up 1) and Austria (10th, up 1) have each made slight progress. This is the first time that Belgium, Chile and Austria have ever reached such heights on the global ladder.

Six teams have leapt by ten places or more in the top 50 this month, namely Turkey (18th, up 19), Bosnia and Herzegovina (20th, up 10), Ecuador (21st, up 10), Republic of Ireland (42nd, up 12), Paraguay (47th, up 14), and Serbia (49th, up 14). Four teams have improved their ranking by over 30 places: Chad (136th, up 39), Cyprus (76th, up 38), Sao Tome e Principe (157th, up 36) and Turkmenistan (121st, up 34).