FIFA RANKINGS: EGYPT drop four places to 24th
Egypt remain the No. 1 team in Africa, though drop four places to 24th.
The Pharaohs, who were ranked in the global top ten in 2010 during their golden era after three successive Africa Cup of Nations wins (2006, 2008 and 2010), are still dominating Africa in FIFA’s July ranking.
Losing 1-0 to Tunisia in the opening group game of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers affected Egypt’s ranking this month but manager Hector Cuper believes his side will bounce back from their loss.
Germany will return to the summit of the FIFA World Ranking after their Confederations Cup victory over Chile.
Brazil had held the No. 1 position since April, but the world champions just accrued enough ranking points to reclaim top spot for the first time in two years. Germany climb two places from third to usurp both Brazil and Argentina.
European champions Portugal, who finished third at the Confederations Cup, climb four places to fourth with Chile falling three places to seventh after winning just one match in Russia even though they reached the final.
Switzerland climb four places into fifth, while Poland shoot to their highest-ever ranking of sixth — up from their previous best of 10th in June. Before last year, Poland had never even been inside the top 15, and a 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Romania has increased their placing further.
Colombia, France and Belgium also drop three places, to eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
Peru (14th, up one), Iceland (19th, up three), Northern Ireland (22nd, up six) and Congo DR (28th, up 11) all register their best-ever ranking. Sweden rocket 16 places from 34th into 18th, helped by their World Cup qualifying win over France, while Haiti are up 15 into 49th.
But there’s not such good news for Netherlands (32nd, down one) who drop to their equal-worst ranking. United States (35th, down 12) are now just one position below their lowest placing while, 12 months on from their appearance at Euro 2016, Hungary slump 24 places into 57th — their worst position for seven years.
Mexico are the top ranked nation in CONCACAF, moving up one place to 16th, with Costa Rica down seven to 26th. However, all CONCACAF nations will have the chance to climb back up with the Gold Cup taking place this month.
