The Malta national team moved up one place in the latest FIFA Rankings while Belgium took their place on the podium following this month’s international window.
The national team were unbeaten during the March international window after excellent performances against Euro 2024 participants Slovenia and Belarus.
Michele Marcolini’s men were on the verge of a famous victory against the Slovenians when taking a 2-1 lead early in the second half only to be pegged back by a fine individual striker from Benjamin Sesko as both teams had to settle to a 2-2 draw.
A few days later, Malta were up against Belarus and the home side were on the front foot for much of the match but could not breach their opponents’ goal as the match finished in a goalless draw.
These positive results were a major boost for the national team ahead of their participation in the UEFA Nations League against Moldova and Andorra that get under way in September.
Following these results, Malta have moved up one place in the rankings on 171st, on 973.14 points.
As regards Malta’s opponents in the Nations League, Andorra are ranked 164th while Moldova are 153rd.
Only three European nations are lagging behind Malta on the list are Liechtenstein (202), Gibraltar (203) and San Marino (210).
Meanwhile, a total of 174 matches, spanning all four corners of the globe, were played during the most recent window in the Men’s International Match Calendar.
Asian teams were involved in various formats, including FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers, whereas the Concacaf zone witnessed the final phase of the Nations League. There were also several friendly matches in each of the six confederations as part of the FIFA Series 2024™. These matches have had a significant effect on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking, most notably within the top 10.
Argentina (1st) continue to lead the way ahead of France (2nd), but Belgium (3rd, up 1) have returned to the podium at the expense of England (4th, down 1).
Brazil (5th) complete the top five, but Portugal (6th, up 1) are now knocking on the door. The Netherlands (7th, down 1) have slipped one place, whereas Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Croatia (10th) have all held on to their positions.
USA (11th, up 2), Colombia (12th, up 2), Ukraine (22nd, up 2) and Poland (28th, up 2) have all made progress up the ranking, as have Czechia (36th, up 4), Palestine (93rd, up 4) and Kyrgyz Republic (100th, up 4), all of whom have taken the biggest strides among the top 100 teams.
It is outside of the top 100, however, that the biggest movers are to be found.
Libya (114th, up 6) and Afghanistan (151st, up 7) have made impressive progress, but it is Indonesia (134th, up 8) who are the biggest climbers on the back of their two victories over Vietnam during FIFA World Cup 26 qualifiers.
Finally, the performances of Qatar (34th, up 3) and Comoros (117th, up 4) are also worthy of mention as both teams are now currently in their highest-ever position in the ranking.
