Following a win over Gibraltar, a draw with Andorra and a win over Latvia, Malta climbed six places in the Coca-Cola/FIFA Ranking and is now ranked 180th.

Malta was, in fact, the biggest climber this month in the ranking list and is now fourth from bottom in Europe, ahead of Liechtenstein (181, down 1), Gibraltar (195) and San Marino (210). Lying just ahead of Malta are Moldova (175).

Next month, Malta will be facing Liechtenstein in a friendly match on November 11 before the final two UEFA Nations League matches against Andorra on November 14 and the Faroe Islands on November 17.

Photos: Copyright © domenic aquilina/MFA

Meanwhile qualifying games for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, the play-offs for UEFA EURO 2021, and UEFA Nations League fixtures were among the 120 internationals played over the last month, resulting in significant movement in October’s edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

While the podium remains the same, the gap has narrowed between top-ranked Belgium and their immediate pursuers, France and Brazil, following the Red Devils’ loss to England (4th) in the UEFA Nations League – their first defeat since November 2018.

However, there are changes to the Top 10: Spain (6th, +1) and Argentina (8th, +1) swapped places with Uruguay (7th, -1) and Croatia (9th, -1) respectively.

Further down the classification, Denmark (13th, +3), Algeria (30th, +5), Paraguay (35th, + 5), Morocco (39th, +4), Scotland (45th, +4), and Hungary (47th, +5) all progressed, with the Magyars breaking into the Top 50 at the expense of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51, -1).