Portugal Climb Up To 5th In Latest FIFA Rankings As Belgium Stretch Lead

Portugal Climb Up To 5th In Latest FIFA Rankings As Belgium Stretch Lead

Several of the biggest names in international football have made significant gains in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

While Belgium (1st, unchanged) continue at the top, increasing their advantage over France (2nd, unchanged) following UEFA EURO qualifying wins over Kazakhstan and Scotland, there was plenty of movement elsewhere in the top 20. Portugal (5th, up 2), for example, moved into the top five on the back of their UEFA Nations League triumph, while the Netherlands (14th, up 2) edged upwards after reaching the final of the same competition.

A trio of former world champions are also on the rise. Spain (7th, up 2), Germany (11th, up 2) and Italy (14th, up 3) all ascended the global ladder on the back of positive results in the EURO qualifiers.

There were plenty of success stories elsewhere, too, with the likes of Austria (26th, up

, Northern Ireland (28th, up 5), Czech Republic (41st, up 7), Hungary (42nd, up 9), Armenia (97th, up 9) and Malaysia (159, up 9) racing up the Ranking. There was also reason to celebrate for Senegal (22nd, up 1) and Kosovo (121st, up 6), both of whom reached their highest position to date.