The final edition of the year of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking finally has a new leader after the USA’s seven-year domination. And it’s Germany!
Thanks to away wins against Sweden and England, Germany have now held on to the top spot for the first time in seven years. The US women’s team have paid dearly for their two defeats to China PR (13th, up 1) and Brazil (8th, down 2). Behind the top two, France (3rd, up 1) have replaced reigning world champions Japan (4th, down 1) in third position. Breaking into the top ten are Korea DPR (7th, up 4), who have been rewarded for victories against their continental rivals Japan, China PR and Korea Republic.
The New FIFA Women’s World Ranking
1 Germany – 2176 pts
2 USA – 2158 pts
3 France – 2091 pts
4 Japan – 2084 pts
5 Sweden – 2000 pts
6 England – 1984 pts
7 Korea DPR – 1981 pts
8 Brazil – 1968 pts
9 Canada – 1962 pts
With impressive away wins against Norway (12th, down 3), Scotland (21st, unchanged) and Italy (14th, down 1), the Netherlands (11th, up 4) now have the top ten in their sights after moving up four places. Having qualified for their first-ever Women’s World Cup, the Dutch women have reached their highest ever position. Five teams have climbed to their highest-ever positions: France, the Netherlands, Costa Rica (37th, up 3), Ecuador (46th, up 3) and Paraguay (50th, up 4).
The results of 170 matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the Women’s World Ranking. Seven teams have re-entered the ranking: Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Cook Islands, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan. As seven teams have also dropped out of the ranking after long periods of inactivity, the number of ranked teams remains at 132.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiinQSEdMlY]
