Malta drops two places in FIFA Ranking

Despite the draw with Latvia, Malta dropped two places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking and is now ranked 186th.

Malta earned a point in a 1-1 draw with Latvia at Ta’ Qali after losing narrowly to the Faroe Islands away from home. However this was not enough for Malta to slip down further down the ranking.

The Malta national team remains third from bottom in Europe. Lying just ahead of Malta are Moldova (175) and Liechtenstein (180) while the bottom two teams are Gibraltar (195, up 1) and San Marino (210, down 1).

Photo: Copyright domenic aquilina/MFA

Malta will be in action next month in a friendly match against Gibraltar on October 7 before two UEFA Nations League matches away from home against Andorra on October 10 and Latvia on October 13.

Meanwhile, the 54 UEFA Nations League games that took place across Europe at the beginning of September had an immediate impact on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, which had remained unchanged since 9 April.

While there has been no movement among the leading quartet – in descending order: Belgium, France, Brazil and England – Portugal (5th, up 2) have moved into the top five thanks to victories over Croatia (8th, down 2) and Sweden (18th, down 1).

Other countries moving in the right direction are Spain (7th, up 1), Italy (12th, up 1), the Netherlands (13th, up 1), and Germany (14th, up 1), with each gaining one place in the global classification. Wales (21st, up 2) climbed two rungs but remain just outside the top 20.