Japan settle in with the leading pack

Japan settle in with the leading pack


The FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ has clearly left its mark on the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking.

That being said, despite changes in the points tallies, there have been no moves in the top five, with finalists the USA continuing to lead the pack, followed by Germany, Brazil, Japan and Sweden. Japan’s defeat to England in the group stage prevented the newly crowned world champions from moving any further up the ranking – although for the Nadeshiko, winning their first title will surely more than make up for it.

Meanwhile, England have made a big jump thanks to their victory over better-ranked Japan, which earned them four places, landing them in sixth position. For two other Women’s World Cup participants, however, the move is in the opposite direction following disappointing performances at the tournament, with Canada (8th, down 2) and Korea DPR (12th, down 4) slipping down the ranking after failing to record a win.

For Korea DPR, this is the first time ever that they have been outside the top ten, where they have been replaced by FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finalists Australia (9th, up 2).

After their three group-stage victories and USA’s defeat to Sweden, Women’s World Cup hosts Germany briefly held the top spot in the ranking, but their quarter-final exit at the hands of Japan and the USA’s further wins restored the established order, with the USA not having relinquished first place since March 2008.

The results of 161 matches have been recognised in the current edition of the world ranking. Five teams (Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Mozambique and Malawi) have made their international comeback after temporary absences and have now re-entered the ranking, bringing the total number of ranked teams to 129.