November 30 – The FIFA world rankings have seen a reshuffle after the November international break, as Leo Messi’s Argentina remains top of the pile thanks to a 0-1 victory away against arch-rivals Brazil, despite losing its unbeaten streak in a 0-2 home defeat against Uruguay a week prior.
France yet again lose out to Argentina despite the headline-hugging 14-0 victory over a hapless Gibraltar side, after drawing against 47th-ranked Greece just days later.
With the top two struggling to maintain championship form, it was England’s opportunity to try to break into the top spots. They, too, struggled to find the net against greatly inferior opposition, summarised by a 2-0 victory over 172nd-ranked Malta and a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia, leading to a 7-point decline since the October rankings, but still doing enough to reclaim the number three spot (1800 points).
Belgium (1798 points) has leapfrogged Brazil into fourth thanks to consecutive victories over Serbia and Azerbaijan. They are the only team in the top five to have gained points since October.
Brazil (1784 points) plummet from third to fifth after a disastrous run of games stretches the Selecao’s winless streak to four matches. The five-time World Cup champions have not won a game since the 1-0 victory over Peru in early September.
The top ten teams remain unchanged but there has been a bit of movement amongst the rankings. The Netherlands (1745.48 points) have edged above Portugal (1745.06 points) thanks to consecutive victories over Ireland and Gibraltar. Similarly, Portugal won both matches during the period but only managed four goals to the Dutch’s seven.
The placement of Spain (1732 points), Italy (1718 points) and Croatia (1717 points) remains unchanged to round out the top ten.
Uruguay’s victories over top-ranked Argentina and Bolivia earned the squad a four-place jump to 11th since the October rankings, earning 22.27 points in the process. Colombia were the only other team inside the top 40 to gain more than 20 points (+24.60) after beating Brazil and Paraguay.
Contact the writer of this report, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734963581labto1734963581ofdlr1734963581owedi1734963581sni@g1734963581niwe.1734963581yrrah1734963581