Malta climbed five places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking following the November window during which Malta defeated Finland 1-0 in Helsinki and lost by the odd goal in five to Poland at Ta’ Qali.
Malta is now ranked 161st, therefore staying fifth from bottom among the other UEFA members, behind Moldova (158, down 2). Lying behind Malta are Andorra (172), Gibraltar (202, down 1), Liechtenstein (205, up 1) and San Marino (210).
These matches were the last matches for Malta from the European Qualifiers ahead of next March’s UEFA Nations League play-offs against Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, a total of 149 national-team matches, including 74 friendlies, were played, producing various changes in the pecking order.
Towards the top, Brazil (5th, up 2) have risen two places at the expense of Portugal (6th, down 1) and the Netherlands (7th, down 1), while Italy (12th, down 3) have slipped out of the top 10. They fell three spots after a 4-1 home defeat by Norway, whose victory means that they are one of the 42 outfits guaranteed to grace the global showpiece in 2026.
Capitalising on the Azzurri’s stumble, Croatia (10th, up 1) are back in the top 10, while the four sides setting the pace are the same as in October’s ranking: Spain, Argentina, France and England respectively.
Another team making strides towards the upper end of the standings are one of the hosts of next year’s World Cup, the USA (14th, up 2), who have overtaken co-hosts Mexico (15th, down 1). The North American pair are the two top-ranked Concacaf sides.
Elsewhere in the top 50, Nigeria (38th, up 3), Tunisia (40th, up 3) and, in particular, Uzbekistan (50th, up 5) enjoy impressive climbs. The latter has made waves by reclaiming their place amongst the 50 leading nations after a nine-year hiatus – the last time they achieved the feat was in October 2016.
Alongside Uzbekistan, three other sides can also boast having moved up five places in the standings: the Philippines (136th, up 5), Turkmenistan (137th, up 5) and Malta (161st, up 5). Kosovo (80th, up 4) have once again broken new ground and are in good stead to be crowned the year’s biggest climbers.