Following the 2-1 defeat to Estonia in the UEFA Nations League and the 2-1 win over Israel in a friendly match, Malta climbed one place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World ranking and is now ranked 168th.
Malta is 51st amongst the other European countries, lying ahead of Moldova (174), Liechtenstein (196), Gibraltar (204) and San Marino (211).
The national team will be in action next month in two friendly matches with a clash with the Republic of Ireland on November 20 being confirmed.
Meanwhile a total of 53 UEFA Nations League matches and 119 friendlies were played in the last international break before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, which begins on 20 November. As well as giving the 32 qualifiers for the upcoming world finals one last dress rehearsal, the matches also had an impact on the latest FIFA/Cola-Cola World Ranking.
Brazil (1st, -) will embark on their bid to win a sixth world title as Ranking leaders. In beating Ghana and Tunisia in their two friendlies last week, they widened the gap between themselves and their nearest challengers, Belgium (2nd, -), who lost to Netherlands (8th, -) in the Nations League. Argentina (3rd, -) complete the podium.
Just behind lie reigning world champions France (4th, -), followed by England (5th, -). The only change in the top 10 saw Italy (6th, plus 1) leapfrog Spain (7th, minus 1), who drop down a place.
There is more movement further down the Ranking. Croatia (12th, plus 3) rose three places, while IR Iran (20th, plus 2) moved into the top 20, followed closely by Serbia (21st, plus 4), who gained four places.
The biggest movers were teams who failed to qualify for Qatar 2022, namely Scotland (40th, plus 5) and Azerbaijan (123rd, plus 5), both five places higher.