Malta retained the 185th place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as published on Thursday.

Among the other European countries, Malta is still ranked 53rd, lying just ahead of San Marino (204) and Gibraltar (206) and just behind Moldova (166), Kosovo (177, up 1) and Liechtenstein (182).

The national team was in action in November, losing 0-3 to Estonia in a friendly match at Ta’ Qali. Next month, Malta will host Luxembourg on March 22 and then face Finland in another friendly match in Turkey.

Meanwnhile Iceland have climbed to an all-time high position of 18th in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The rise of the FIFA World Cup™-bound Icelanders (18th, up 2) is one of the more notable changes in a February table left largely unaltered by a quiet period of international action.

Just 34 international friendlies, 28 of which were in Africa, came into the equation, resulting in a static top 15 that is still headed by Germany, Brazil and Portugal (1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, all unchanged).

There was some significant movement further down the order, though, with Venezuela (48th, up 4), Hungary (49th, up 5) and Jamaica (50th, up 5) all entering the top 50 at the expense of Cameroon (51st, down 6), Ghana (54th, down 4), and Burkina Faso (57th, down 13).

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