Kenya Eases Up Two Places, Belgium Top FIFA World Ranking
25th October 2018
Harambee Stars drew and beat Ethiopia in the past month as the country improved from 1204 to 1210 points
- Harambee Stars drew 0-0 and beat Ethiopia 3-0 to boost their chances of making the 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon within the last month in performances that lifted the country from position 107 to 105
- England and Uruguay were the only other movers in the top 10, Gareth Southgate's men moving up one place to fifth and Uruguay moving the other way, to sixth
- The Gibraltarians are one of just six teams to have ascended more than five places, and the only team in Europe to have done so
NAIROBI, Kenya- Kenya eased up two places in the latest Coca-Cola FIFA World Rankings released Thursday as Belgium supplanted Russia 2018 winners France as the top football nation.
Harambee Stars drew 0-0 and beat Ethiopia 3-0 to boost their chances of making the 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon within the last month in performances that lifted the country from position 107 to 105.
Kenya is inching towards making a return to the global top 100 having improved from 1204 Ranking points last month to 1210.
World Cup winners France dropped one place to second as Belgium moved up to claim top spot.
England and Uruguay were the only other movers in the top 10, Gareth Southgate's men moving up one place to fifth and Uruguay moving the other way, to sixth.
Last month, Belgium joined France in becoming the Ranking’s first-ever joint leaders. Now the Red Devils are in sole possession of top spot, albeit by the narrowest possible margin – 1733 Ranking points to Les Bleus’ 1732.
The top two remain out in front after a month in which each of them enjoyed a win and a draw, with Belgium and France beating Switzerland (eighth, unchanged) and Germany (14th, down two) in the UEFA Nations League and emerging with honours even from matches against the Netherlands (15th, up two) and Iceland (36th, unchanged).
Dutch rise
The Dutch rose on the back of a fine 3-0 Nations League win over their struggling German rivals, and other sides also profited from their success in the same competition.
England (5th, up 1), for example, swapped places with Uruguay (6th, down 1) after winning 3-2 away to Spain (9th, unchanged), while Norway (48th, up 4) moved into the top 50 after back-to-back victories and Russia (41st, up 5) maintained recent momentum by staying top of Group 2.
Gibraltar (190th, up eight), though, were undoubtedly October’s biggest Nations League success story, and their first-ever competitive wins against Armenia (101, down 1) and Lichtenstein (182, down 4) are reflected in a record Ranking position - and this month’s biggest rise.
The Gibraltarians are one of just six teams to have ascended more than five places, and the only team in Europe to have done so.
The others all hail from Africa, where Egypt (58, up 6), Madagascar (100, up 6), Namibia (109, up 7), Zimbabwe (110, up 7) and Burundi (142, up 6) made significant gains on the back of strong results in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
FIFA rankings as of October 25
World
1. Belgium
2. France (-1 place)
3. Brazil
4. Croatia
5. England (+1)
6. Uruguay (- 1)
7. Portugal
8. Switzerland
9. Spain
10. Denmark
Africa (position denotes World Ranking)
22. Tunisia
25. Senegal
44. Nigeria
46. Congo DR
47. Morocco
51. Cameroon
52. Ghana
57. Burkina Faso
58. Egypt
64. Cote d'Ivoire