Following back-to-back defeats to Czechia and Greece earlier this month, Malta slipped one place and and is now ranked 172nd in the Coca-Cola/FIFA Men’s World Ranking as published on Thursday.

Malta suffered a heavy 1-7 defeat to EURO 2024 finalists Czechia and 0-2 to Greece during a training camp in Austria.  Malta remains fourth from bottom among the other UEFA member countries, lying ahead of Gibraltar (198, up 5), Liechtenstein (199, up 3) and San Marino (210). Lying just ahead of Malta are the two countries which will be the opponents of Michele Marcolini’s side in the UEFA Nations League starting in September, Moldova (152, up 1) and Andorra (162, up 2).

The next commitments for Malta are the first two matches from the UEFA Nations League where clashes Moldova and Andorra away from home await the boys in red on September 7 and 10 respectively.

Meanwhile the top three remain unchanged. Argentina (1st) retain their place at the summit, with France (2nd) and Belgium (3rd) hot on their heels. But there is movement behind them, as Brazil (4th, up 1) and England (5th, down 1) swap places. Meanwhile, Portugal (6th), the Netherlands (7th) and Spain (8th) consolidate their spots in the top ten, whilst Croatia (9th, up 1) overtake Italy (10th, down 1), who nonetheless hold onto a place among the leading pack.