Malta dropped two places and is now 177th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as published on Thursday.

Malta is now fourth from bottom in Europe, lying ahead of Liechtenstein (189, down 3), Gibraltar (194, up 1) and San Marino (209, up 1). Just ahead of Malta is Moldova (175th, up 2).

Since the last ranking was published in May, Malta played two friendly matches, losing 0-3 to Northern Ireland and 1-2 to Kosovo.

Next month, Malta plays Cyprus at Ta’ Qali on September 1 before two clashes away from home against Slovenia on the 4th and Russia on the 7th.

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Meanwhile with UEFA EURO 2020, the 2020 Copa America, the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and continental tournaments, as well as friendly matches all on the slate, no fewer than 348 international encounters have taken place since the last edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking was released.

Consequently, there has been a considerable amount of movement in the standings, although Belgium managed to retain their top spot despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Their last-eight opponents and eventual winners of the tournament, Italy, (5, +2), moved up into the top 5, just behind EURO runners-up England (4, no change). Just above that pair, Brazil (2, +1) and France (3, -1) swapped places.

Argentina (6, +2) reaped the benefits of a triumphant Copa America campaign, while the two Gold Cup finalists broke into the top 10. Victorious in that tournament and winners of the Concacaf Nations League as well, United States (10, +10) climbed no fewer than ten places, eight more than Mexico (9, +2), who, despite losing in the final of both competitions, now sit one spot above their continental rivals.