The recent success for India has seen them climb the FIFA rankings. October 2021 was indeed a busy month for international football. Lined up were the ultimate rounds of the UEFA Nations League, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers and a set of friendlies. All in all, 160 fixtures took place, the final effect of which was seen on the FIFA Rankings.
Belgium remains at No. 1. despite UEFA Nations League losses to Italy (4th, 1) and France (3rd, 1). However, their lead is under pressure now. Taking a look at the top five, only Gil Azzurri and Les Bleus have been able to elevate their positions.
Good news for India as they too moved up one spot to the 106th position. This comes after the Blue Tigers won the SAFF Championship under the captaincy of Sunil Chhetri. In that tie, India went on to beat Nepal.
Back to the top, Brazil retains second place but is now ever closer to Belgium, trailing by just 12 points. Meanwhile, England sees themselves slip down to fifth.
An official statement from FIFA quoted, “A little further down, Spain’s (7th, 1) progress at the expense of Portugal (8th, -1) is also noteworthy, as is that of Germany (12th, 2), who leapfrog USA (13th). Uruguay lost most ground among the top 20 by dropping three places to 15th,”.
After all that, we can spot some of the most notable climbs in this edition. Morocco (29th, 4), Russia (33rd, 4), Egypt (44th, 4), Saudi Arabia (49th, 7) and South Africa (66th, 7), all marched several places above following their two wins from two this month in 2022 Qatar qualifying.
In the lower half of the rankings, two countries got on very well. New Zealand (111, 10) and Indonesia (165, 10) were the joint-largest movers this time around, before the Central African Republic (115, 9) and Cambodia (170, 8).
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