Belgium has emerged top on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time in history. Les Diables Rouges (The Red Devils) jumped two places on the November edition to replace previous leaders Argentina (3rd, down 2) and world champions Germany (2nd, unchanged).
The biggest climbers in the top ten are Chile (5th, up 4), while England (9th, up 1) and Austria (10th, up 1) have each made slight progress. This is the first time that Belgium, Chile and Austria have ever reached such heights on the global ladder.
Six teams have leapt by ten places or more in the top 50 this month, namely Turkey (18th, up 19), Bosnia and Herzegovina (20th, up 10), Ecuador (21st, up 10), Republic of Ireland (42nd, up 12), Paraguay (47th, up 14), and Serbia (49th, up 14). Four teams have improved their ranking by over 30 places: Chad (136th, up 39), Cyprus (76th, up 38), Sao Tome e Principe (157th, up 36) and Turkmenistan (121st, up 34).
The composition of the top 50 for November 2015 shows little change, with the AFC gaining two teams through Korea Republic (48th, up 5) and Japan (50th, up 5) and Africa losing two, Cameroon and Congo each having dropped three places to 51st and 52nd respectively.
The last FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of 2015 will be published on 3 December and could see Belgium take the ‘Team of the Year’ title, should they retain its top spot. The ‘Mover of the Year’ will be awarded to the team which has gained the most points in 2015. Current contenders for this are Turkey (up 430 points), Chile (up 331 points), Wales (up 330 points) and Austria (up 319 points). However, with various matches and qualifiers due to take place over the coming weeks, the positions are still all to play for.
A total of 172 international ‘A’ matches have been taken into account in the November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, bringing the total number of matches evaluated so far this year to 840. Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 (50 matches) and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ (66 matches) played a significant role in some of the major changes to this month’s instalment.
Austria, who will be at the Euro 2016 finals in France – their first appearance at a major tournament since Euro 2008 – have moved into the top 10.
Uruguay are up eight places to 12th after winning their opening two World Cup qualifiers and Italy are a place behind in 13th thanks to a jump of four spots.
Turkey have been rewarded for sealing their qualification for Euro 2016 by moving up 19 places to 18th and they are joined in the top 20 by Bosnia-Herzegovina, who will contest a two-legged play-off with Republic of Ireland this month following victories in their last three qualifiers.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 3 December 2015.
