Brazil national team photo. yunhap news
Japan is expected to leap to the top 20 among Asian countries in the new FIFA rankings. There is a prospect that Korea will jump to 25th.
ESPN, an American sports media outlet, predicted on the 19th (local time) the FIFA ranking to be renewed following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar up to 20th. Small changes were expected.
Although Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar, there was a prospect that it would retain first place as announced last October. Argentina, who won the World Cup (currently 3rd) and runner-up France (currently 4th), beat Belgium (currently 2nd) and are expected to move up one notch to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. According to ESPN’s prediction, Belgium, which had failed to qualify for the round of 16, moved down to 4th and England remained in 5th.
Argentina winning the World Cup in Qatar. yunhap news
The Netherlands (currently ranked 8th) moved up to 6th, and Croatia (currently 12th), who finished 3rd at the World Cup, jumped to 7th. Italy (currently ranked 6th), which did not participate in the World Cup, fell to 8th place. Portugal (now 10th) rose to 9th and Spain (now 7th) fell to 10th.
Morocco (currently ranked 22nd), who wrote a legend in the semifinals of the Qatar World Cup, jumped to 11th. It is followed by Switzerland (currently ranked 15th), 13th United States (currently ranked 16th), 14th Germany (currently ranked 11th), 15th Mexico (currently ranked 13th), 16th Uruguay (currently ranked 14th), and 17th Colombia (currently ranked 14th). Currently ranked 17th), Denmark ranked 18th (currently ranked 10th), and Senegal ranked 19th (currently ranked 18th).
File photo of the Japanese national team. yunhap news
Japan (currently ranked 24th), which defeated Germany and Spain at the Qatar World Cup and advanced to the round of 16, rose to 20th, the highest among Asian countries.
Korea (currently ranked 28th), who advanced to the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 12 years, was predicted to rise three places to 25th. Korea drew with Uruguay in the group stage of this tournament and was knocked out by Ghana, but defeated Portugal and advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years.
Canada (currently ranked 41st) and Qatar (currently ranked 50th) dropped the most by 12 places to 53rd and 62nd, respectively. Wales (currently ranked 19th) also fell nine places to 28th.