Egypt back in the top ten

Egypt back in the top ten

The November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking contains only one change from the previous month inside the top ten. While Spain, the Netherlands and Brazil have retained their positions out front, Egypt are back among the ten best teams at the expense of Russia.

Meanwhile, another African team is on the up, namely the hosts of this year’s FIFA World Cup™, South Africa, who have moved up two places to enter the top 50 for the first time since February 2006.

However, the biggest winners all hail from the Caribbean, with the numerous matches played at the Caribbean Cup, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, bringing some participating teams major gains in terms of points. These include Trinidad and Tobago (78th, up 28), Guyana (86th, up 12) and Grenada (91st, up 34), who are the highest climbers in the entire ranking.

Outside CONCACAF, only Botswana (67th, up 12) and Cambodia (170th, up 12) have moved up more than ten places. Inside the top 50, however, the situation has remained relatively settled, with no teams climbing more than two places and only one (Burkina Faso, 41st) dropping four.

The results of 34 new 'A' international matches were factored into the current edition of the world ranking, bringing the total number of matches taken into account this year to 673. Almost half of the matches played this month (16 games) were qualifiers for the Gold Cup, meaning that it was mainly teams from the Caribbean who enjoyed big gains in points and places in the November edition of the ranking.