Malta climbs five places in FIFA Ranking

Malta climbed five places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was published on Thursday and now occupies the 169th place

These rankings take into consideration all games played since February 7th.  Therefore it includes the recent two excellent performances by the National Team against Azerbaijan (1-0) and Kuwait (2-0).

Malta is still 51st in Europe, lying ahead of Moldova (180), Liechtenstein (192), Gibraltar (203) and San Marino (211).  The 12.6 increase makes Malta the third most improved nation in Europe.  Only North Macedonia and Poland have gained more points.

photo couresy of domenic aquilina

The next competitive commitment for the national team led by Devis Mangia is the UEFA Nations League qualifying games against San Marino (June 5) away and later on at home against Estonia (June 9) and San Marino (June 12). 

A further international friendly preparatory match is also scheduled to be played in Ta’ Qali on June 1.

Meanwhile having already spent the longest time at the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (4,731 days), Brazil (1st, +1) returned to the summit in March 2022, five years after they were last there.

Recent wins for the Seleçao over Chile (4-0 at home) and Bolivia (4-0 away) in the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ enabled them to overtake Belgium, who had been in first place for the past three years but who failed to get the better of Republic of Ireland on 26 March, drawing 2-2 in a friendly.

Belgium (2nd, -1) are now on the second step of the podium, ahead of France (3rd) who remain unchanged. Behind this top three, Argentina (4th), England (5th), Spain (7th) and Portugal (8th) are the next best placed teams with regard to the Draw, keeping in mind that Italy (6th) will be absent following their defeat in the play-off semi-final.

Mexico (9th, +3) and Uruguay (13th, +3) are the biggest movers inside the top 20, while overall, it is Costa Rica (31st, +11) and then New Zealand (101st, +10) who have made the most progress. Also of note is the fact that Kosovo (107th, +2) have achieved their highest ever ranking to date.