Following the narrow win over Andorra, Malta managed to climb one place in the FIFA Ranking and is now ranked 171st.

Malta remains fourth from bottom in Europe, ahead of Gibraltar (198), Liechtenstein (203, down 4) and San Marino 210. Lying just ahead of Malta are Latvia (137), Lithuania (139, down 4), Faroe Islands (140, down 2), Moldova (149, up 3) and Andorra (169, down 5).

The next commitment for Malta should be the UEFA Nations League match against Moldova at Ta’ Qali on October 13 although Malta should be playing a friendly match ahead of this game.

Meanwhile after respectively being beaten 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy, Argentina (1st) and France (2nd), have Spain (3rd), England (4th), Brazil (5th) and Belgium (6th) hot on their heels. The top ten remains unchanged, continuing to be rounded off by the Netherlands (7th), Portugal (8th), Colombia (9th) and Italy (10th).

Although there has been no movement in the top 15, Japan (16th, +2), IR Iran (19th, +1) and Denmark (20th, +1) have all made their mark in the chasing pack. Meanwhile, the main movers and shakers in the top 50 are Egypt (31st), Côte d’Ivoire (33rd), Tunisia (36th) and Algeria (41st), who have all risen five places, and Greece (48th, +6), who have gone one better.