Malta finished 184th as the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for December was announced on Thursday.

Throughout 2019, Malta defeated the Faroe Islands 2-1 in the first match from the European Qualifiers but suffered nine defeats in the remaining matches. In ten matches, Malta scored three and conceded twenty-seven.

Malta therefore remains third bottom in Europe, ahead of Gibraltar (196) and San Marino (209). Lying just ahead of Malta are Moldova (175) and Liechtenstein (180, up 1).

Meanwhile Belgium are the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking’s ‘Team of the Year’ for the second successive time after a record-breaking year for the global ladder. The Red Devils hold on to top spot in a December table barely impacted by just 19 friendlies, but with 1082 international A matches – an all-time high since the Ranking’s 1993 inception – having already been played.

World champions France and Brazil also remain in second and third, the positions they held in December 2018, but the make-up of the top five has changed, with England climbing one place to reach fourth and Uruguay moving up to fifth on the back of a two-spot rise. Argentina (9th) and Colombia (10th) have also entered the top ten at the expense of Switzerland (12th) and Denmark (16th), who slipped four and six places respectively over the course of the year.