As the latest FIFA rankings were released, in a shocking move England climbed to the third place surpassing the likes of the World Champions, France and an undefeated Italy.
Belgium and Brazil managed to keep their top two positions with Belgium claiming the ace. The Red Devils stayed rooted at the top with 1832 points while Brazil followed suit with 1811.
Performances that helped England to climb the pecking order
After a superior illustration in the Euro Cup, England managed to surpass France and Italy to climb into the fifth spot with 1755 points. The reigning World Champions will have to be sated by the fourth spot as they fell behind by a solitary point.
Euro champions, Italy’s unbeaten streak and Euro triumph kept them in the fifth spot with 1735 points. Copa America winners, Argentina managed to grab the sixth spot with 1725 points.
Spain and Portugal swapped places in the points table as mixed performances from both the teams led Portugal to claim the seventh spot while Spain was demoted to the eighth spot.
Mexico remained in the ninth spot of the table while Denmark’s superior showdown in the Euros saw them getting promoted to the top ten.
Surprises that rocked the lower half of the table
A couple of surprises came from two bottom placed teams as Libya climbed 12 places while Kosovo bagged their best ever FIFA rankings to move to the 109th spot.
Fans weren’t particularly happy with England’s promotion as they advocated for Italy and Argentina to be promoted, given their exultant triumphs in the respective continental contests.
The rankings also took into effect the World Cup Qualifiers that saw a couple of brilliant showdowns from the European contingents. Though the rankings aren’t an exact metric of the team’s performances but it acts as a yardstick over a certain period of time to amass the cumulative performances of the team and pass on the final verdict.
