Argentina stay top as All Whites and EURO heroes soar

Argentina remain at the summit of the July FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, but only after a tumultuous month of action that has resulted in plenty of movement further down.

The impact of three recent major international tournaments – the OFC Nations Cup, Copa América Centenario and UEFA EURO 2016 – is certainly plain to see in a table in which Kosovo are ranked for the first time. A total of 228 “A” internationals have contributed to the new order, with those big events in Oceania, Europe and the Americas especially important in propelling nations upwards.

New Zealand have emerged as the month’s biggest climbers, moving up an incredible 54 places to 93rd on the back of an OFC Nations Cup victory that saw the All Whites qualify for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 while also furthering their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying ambitions. Portugal will also be heading to Russia 2017 after their EURO 2016 triumph, an achievement that sees them leapfrog both Spain and Brazil into sixth position.

There is also some small consolation for France, Portugal’s vanquished final opponents, who are among several teams to profit from impressive EURO campaigns. While Les Bleus have climbed ten places to a new position of seventh, Poland have moved up 11 to 16th and there are 12-place jumps for both Iceland and Croatia, who now sit in 22nd and 15th respectively. Surprise semi-finalists Wales have fared better still, picking up 291 ranking points – this month’s biggest tally – to advance 15 positions to 11th.

The Icelanders, meanwhile, are one of five teams to have reached their best-ever position in this latest table, along with Guinea-Bissau (75th, up 40), St Kitts and Nevis (80th, up 12), Kazakhstan (97th, up 15) and Comoros (155th, up 7). Yet despite all this activity, the ranking’s top five remains unchanged, with Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany and Chile – all of whom reached the latter stages of their respective tournaments – doing enough to hold off the pretenders below.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 11 August 2016.

Leader Argentina
Moves into top 10 France (7th, up 10), Italy (10th, up 2)
Moves out of top 10 Uruguay (12th, down 3), Austria (21st, down 11)
Matches played in total 228
Most matches played Portugal, France (9 matches each)
Biggest move by points Wales (up 291 points)
Biggest move by ranks New Zealand (up 54 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Austria (down 202 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Belize (down 50 ranks)
Newly ranked teams Kosovo (190th)
Teams that are no longer ranked none
Inactive teams, not ranked none

Click here to view the complete ranking.
To find out more about the calculation of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking click here.