Myanmar on the march as Venezuela hit record high

While the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking bears the marks of no fewer than 177 "A" international matches, there is little evidence of that fixture glut in the ladder’s upper echelons.

The top five remains unchanged and there is only one change in the top ten, with Croatia (6th, up 1) climbing for the second successive edition at the expense of Portugal (7th, down 1). There are, however, more significant changes further down the table, with Italy (13th, up 2), Poland (19th, up 2), Serbia (29th, up 4) and Nigeria (31st, up 4) all pushing their way upwards.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifiers in Asia have also made an impression. Myanmar (136th, up 11), for example, are the only team to have advanced more than ten positions, having done so thanks to impressive wins over Nepal (170th, down 3), Tajikistan (121st, down 5) and Mongolia (190th, down 4). Kuwait (147th, up 9) have also made a substantial jump on the back of their fine results in the Qatar 2022 preliminaries.

Yet perhaps the most significant success story of this edition is Venezuela (25th, up 1). While their rise might be more modest than those of others, La Vinotinto – due largely to a recent friendly victory over Japan (28th, unchanged) – have now ascended to their highest position since the ranking was introduced in 1993.

Click here to view the complete ranking.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 19 December 2019.

Leader Belgium (unchanged)

Moves into top 10 None

Moves out of top 10 None

Matches played in total 177

Most matches played Antigua and Barbuda, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Zambia (3 matches each)

Biggest move by points Malaysia (up 31 points)

Biggest move by ranks Myanmar (up 11 ranks)

Biggest drop by points Palestine, Nicaragua (down 27 points each)

Biggest drop by ranks Nicaragua (down 13 ranks)

Newly ranked teams None

Teams that are no longer ranked None

Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands

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